Play Book Tag discussion

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be the world's greatest rapper. It's not just that she sees it as a way to get her family out of poverty; she has it in her blood. Her father was a rising rapper who had established his reputation before he was killed by gang violence. She knows if she can get into the Ring she can win a rap battle that could get her noticed and put her on a course to fame and wealth. But her mother insists on her going to college, and it's hard to keep up with her grades, especially when she is labeled a hoodlum at school, her mother is a recovering addict struggling to keep a job, and her older brother has tabled his dreams of grad school to keep food on the table.

Angie Thomas has done it again. Right on the heels of The Hate U Give, she shows us another facet of the struggles that people of color in poverty have to endure to simply survive, and addresses the casual racism they are exposed to every day. She shows how a situation can easily escalate out of one's control even when you don't intend it, especially for adolescents struggling to find themselves and their place in the world. She's made me look at rap in a different way, and even appreciate it when I couldn't before. She explores themes of friendship, identity, family and community with complex characters that are never two-dimensional. This woman can write, and I hope she doesn't stop. My rating is 4.5, easily rounded up.

I just read this, and was so moved and compelled. This could be on my top 10 for life. What a fabulous book. I hope they continue to make students read it. It really explains things in such an accessible way. Like you really felt the conflict and the tension of what this girl and many other kids experience. Five stars from me. And I love that we read it at exactly the same time. That’s two for us this month.

Amy wrote: "I just read this, and was so moved and compelled. This could be on my top 10 for life. What a fabulous book. I hope they continue to make students read it. It really explains things in such an acce..."

Amy, it was you who put it on my radar - I didn't even know she had written another book until your review, so thank you!

We are cycling together this July! Glad it was a hit for you too! Plus four for our purple team....

I’ve really loved both books this author has written, and I’m so happy she is publishing another early next year. Concrete Rose is in the same universe as THUG, and from an interview I read with Angie Thomas, it tells the story of Starr’s father before she was born.