On The Come Up By Angie Thomas

Only two years after its release, Angie Thomas’ debut novel, The Hate U Give, is already considered a classic and taught in schools. Thomas’ highly anticipated follow-up is set in a home only a few miles away from Starr Carter’s. Our star this time is Brianna Jackson, a young woman with dreams of rap-stardom — and the chops to achieve those dreams. But when her mom loses her job because of the recent riots, Brianna is distracted by more pressing issues: The dwindling food supply, broken shoes, and the possibility they may lose their home. Yet again, Thomas excels at creating the kind of funny, vivid, first-person narrator who teaches as she goes. She ones-up herself this time, too: Thomas wrote many raps for the book.