RaveThe Washington Post... one of my favorite things about Angie Thomas is that she’s always willing to dig a little deeper, to peel back another layer. This is what makes her latest novel, Concrete Rose — her best, in my opinion — a gift. It not only eviscerates the \'fast Black girl\' stereotype and debunks the myth of the Bailing Black Baby Daddy, it gives us insight into the life of a boy most people wouldn’t even attempt to look at beyond the surface ... Thomas doesn’t sugarcoat any of this: She lets us see the grit and grime of all of it ... what Thomas does not do is permit the reader to perch up on a pedestal of unexamined moral ideals and look down on the characters in this book — and the people they represent in the real world — from some completely unfounded position of superiority ... One of Angie Thomas’s greatest skills is crafting characters that give even adults readers insight into their younger selves. She makes us remember what it’s like to feel as though you can’t speak up without dire consequences; what it’s like to have dreams so much bigger than you are; what it’s like to be stuck between a rock and a hard place with no idea what to do, but also no choice but to figure it out ... No, gang membership, drug slinging and teen parenthood aren’t light or easy topic topics. But in Concrete Rose, Thomas handles them with utmost care, compassion and nuance. It’s a novel that, like Thomas’s other books, plucks at the strings of our complex humanity. It walks us into the life of a character who is easy to condemn from the outside, and then dares us try to judge him once we’ve gotten in ... we all owe Angie Thomas a debt of immense gratitude. Because in allowing us to see the heart and soul of a boy who does just about everything our society vilifies, but is truly doing the best he can with what he has, she has given us the greatest gift of all: permission to let our guards down and be a little more legitimately human.
Jacqueline Woodson
RaveThe Washington Post... does much more than perfectly balance truth with hope ... Red at the Bone showed me something I didn’t realize I needed in a book: home ... Because throughout their trials, tribulations and triumphs, the people in this book were my people. This family, my family. Their ups, their downs, their pains, their pleasures, I have known them like I know my own skin. Their history is my history ... a narrative steeped in truth — and, yes, it’s painful. But it’s also one of healing and hope ... Thank you, Ms. Woodson, for leading me home.
