The book I read for my Book Love was On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. I had read The Hate U Give by the same author and really enjoyed the book, so I decided to get On the Come Up when I saw it at the bookstore. On the Come Up is almost like a sequel to The Hate U Give, but it has different characters and a different plot following the events of the first book. The main character of the book is Brianna Jackson (Bri), and she wants more than anything else to be a rapper like her dad, Lawless. Bri is a 16 year old from Garden Heights which is where The Hate U Give takes place, and she goes to a fancy private school where there are very few colored kids. She gets her debut as a rapper in “the Ring,” which is where the best rappers battle, and anxiously awaits the moment for when she is up. Her aunt, Pooh, a drug dealer and gang member, escorts her to the ring where she battles Milez, another teen rapper who is the son of a famous producer, Supreme. Milez raps about Bri’s father’s death, which causes Bri to choke her round. She then destroys Milez in the next two rounds, getting a good reaction from the crowd and resulting in her being the winner. A video of her rapping goes viral online and she is getting recognized at school the next morning, but when she refuses to give her bag to the school security, they throw her to the ground and put her in handcuffs. Videos of her go viral, some saying she was a drug dealer when she was only “dealing” candy. Angry about what has happened to her, Bri writes and records a song, “On the Come Up,” to show her anger towards the staff and mock the assumptions made about her just because she is a person of color. Throughout the books, Bri goes through more hardships and understands the trouble and controversy of being a colored rapper at her age. She has to endure rumors, criticism, and riots involving her and her song. She goes through a lot at a very young age, but in the end, she knows she will b
e okay. I knew I was going to like this book because I enjoyed The Hate U Give very much. Both books bring up the topic of violent racism that teens go through at a young age. This book gives me insight that I may not be able to see being a white teen that lives in a safe neighborhood in Carlsbad. I will probably never have to encounter racism like Bri did, so I can learn vicariously through Thomas’s books to widen my horizons. I suggest that those who are interested in On the Come Up read The Hate U Give first and consider reading some of Angie Thomas’s other really well written books, I know I am.
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