Recommended for ages 14+ or grades 9+

Awards won:

Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, 1997-2024

Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award, 2009-2023

Indies Choice Book Awards, 2009-2019

Junior Library Guild Selections, 2012-2023

William C. Morris Debut Award, 2009-2024

The story is relatable to most high school students that have loved someone but things turn in a different direction. The story is appropriate for ages 16+

This is a modern day Traditional Tale of Cinderella.

Recommended for ages 12-17

• New York Times and Indie Bestseller

• Amazon Best Book of the Year

• CNN Summer Read Pick

• Recommended read for Teen Vogue and Buzzfeed

• Best Book of 2020 for the New York Library, the Chicago Public Library, and Kirkus Reviews

• ALA's Rainbow List pick

2007 - Honorable Mention(s)

Coretta Scott King Award

Sisters Delphine, Vonetta and Fern were sent across the United States from New York to Oakland California to see their mother wo abandoned them when Fern was just a baby. Their Papa decided it was time for them to meet her even though she didn't send for them and their Big Ma was even upset they were going.

Once the girls arrived in Oakland they didn't even receive any love or hugs from Cecile who didn't really know how to be a mom. Cecile wouldn't even let the girls in her presciouc kitchen to cook or get a glassof water. The very next morning after their arrival, Cecile instructed them to go down to the Black Panther community center for their free breakfast and not to come back until the sun set, the girls were so surprised.

Once at the community center the girls were able to learn so much about the Black Panthers and what they stood up for. They learned how their mom was donating her printing services and the reason that she left them so long ago. In the end the girls enjoyed their trip and all was well.

Paper Boy doesn't like school and he thinks that his new life isn't what he expected. To know that one day he would be able to become a legend as the creator of the Walt Disney character "Bambi" can show students that everything is possible with hard work and dedication,

(Audiobook) Concrete Rose is as fabulous as it's counterpart The Hate U Give.

Angie Thomas (Author), Dion Graham (Narrator), HarperAudio (Publisher)

The audio was moving, raw and down to earth. The author takes us back to 17 years prior to "The Hate U Give."To hear how Maverick found his way after becoming a teen parent was told in such a realistic way that I felt like I knew him as a friend. I read "The Hate U Give" prior to "Concrete Rose" and both stories are told in a way that shows the life of an everyday teen.

There's so many topics that's touched upon such as, black parenting, gang life, parenting, teen parenting, and not completing high school. Maveric (Mav) has to grow up fast as he becomes a single dad to his son Seven (baby born from cheating on his girlfriend) and then finds out that he has a daughter on the way by his long time girlfriend Lisa. Ultimately Lisa and Mav are able to weather the storm of Mav having a baby on her and move forward to raise their children together.

The author also narrated her own story and it was beautiful: It felt like I was at a Spoken Word event in the front row. I was hesitant to read a book wrote in verse, but Xiomara is strong, powerful and a pure loveable young lady. To hear her pure raw emotions and feel the words as she spoke brought light to the story. As a high school teacher, I' can't wait to include this book into my classroom library and use it as a book club read for my summer class.

A few thoughts that I have for teaching the story includes, breaking the poems down as a prewrite, have the students to write a poem describing their feelings and so forth. This can also benefit by EL students because the book comes in Spanish.

This is defiantly in my top 10 YA books and a solid 5 Star read.

AWARDS RECEIVED

Michael L. Printz Award winner, 2019.

Pura Belpré Author Award winner, 2019.

Boston Globe-Horn Book Fiction and Poetry Award, 2018

National Book Award for Young People's Literature (2018)

Carnegie Medal (2019)