Parents' Guide to The Black Kids

Parents need to know that in The Black Kids, by Christina Hammonds Reed, the Rodney King riots and the melodrama of prom combine to bring to a head the contradictions in the life of Ashley, a Black high school senior from a well-to-do family who attends an exclusive, predominantly White private school. The setting, in the wake of the not-guilty verdict for the police officers who beat Rodney King, and backstory about the Tulsa "Black Wall Street" killings bring many scenes of violence, some graphic. These include a Korean boy shot in the chest, mass shootings by law enforcement during the Tulsa incident, lynchings in the Jim Crow South, and beating by both police and civilians. One character nurses an injury suffered during looting of his store. There are also scenes of violence between high school teens, including one boy punching another out and a physical altercation between girls owing to rivalry over a boy. There's a prominent subplot about the loss of virginity, several scenes of romantic kissing, and references to "hookups" between teen couples as well as adult couples. Two girls have a brief conversation about the possibility that one is bisexual. There's a passage about jealousy between one character's parents, with the suggestion the father is having an "emotional affair" with a family friend. Teens smoke cigarettes, drink wine coolers, smoke pot, and take ecstasy casually, with few negative consequences. A teen is arrested for possession of cocaine. Strong language includes "s--t," " f--k," "damn," the "N" word, "nigga," "twat," and "asshole."