On the Come Up, by Angie Thomas

Book two from this fairly new author, and what a whopper it is! Thomas's first book being The Hate U Give, which I admit I was surprised at how quickly it was turned into a movie (which I can't go see...I tried passing as a service dog once, but it didn't go well...)! That book was good, too, and similar in style. Thomas writes realistic fiction very well, and creates believable characters and believable situations as well as anyone I have read. In fact, I would say she is a master at character development - her protagonist in Come Up, Bri Jackson, feels as much a real person as you or me (well, as you...). Her situation is believable and real, as is her language and imperfections.

Bri is a Black teenager living with her mom and brother in a rough part of town. She is trying to navigate the world around her while also dealing with the loss of her rap star father, all the while framing her own life and experiences in music as well. The language in this book is real and very strong, so if mature language bothers you, you might want to read Kwame Alexander or Walter Dean Myers for equally good stories with less mature language from their characters. I found that the strong language fit the situations the characters were dealing with perfectly, so even though there are a lot of "bad" words in this book, I never felt that Thomas was writing this into the story just to shock the reader - you and me! This is a really good story, and a great addition to what I still feel is an underrepresented segment of teen lit - that of non-White characters dealing with realistic lives in realistic ways.

On the Come Up ended with plenty of room for a sequel, and I ended the book wanting to know more about Bri's story...Thomas has already made her place on the shelf with some of the best teen writers, and her realistic fiction, her "street lit", as it is sometimes called, is as good as anything out there - read this! 5 paws!