Select A Store
Select Store
My Store:
Select A Store
Overview
Overview
International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give in this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood. A Printz Honor Book!
If there's one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it's that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad's in prison.
Life's not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav's got everything under control.
Until, that is, Maverick finds out he's a father.
Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it's not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he's offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he's expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he's different.
When King Lord blood runs through your veins, though, you can't just walk away. Loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the brutal murder of a loved one. He'll have to figure out for himself what it really means to be a man.
- Format: TradePaperback
- Author: Thomas, Angie
- ISBN: 9780062846723
- Condition: Used
- Number Of Pages: 368
- Publication Year: 2022
Customer Reviews
Rating Snapshot
5 ★
33%
4 ★
67%
3 ★
0%
2 ★
0%
1 ★
0%
3 Ratings
0
0% Would Recommend
0 Recommendations
Review Images
Sort by:
-
Characters make mistakes but experience growth
Brian L. - 5 years 6 months agoI think my favorite thing about Thomas’s books is that her characters always face a series of difficult decisions, which forces them to think hard about who they want to become. Additionally, each of her novels does a tremendous job evoking empathy for her characters, not at every moment but often enough to help us understand what it would be like to be in their shoes. p.s. If you’ve read The Hate U Give, you might find yourself wanting to reread it after finishing this one.
-
Loved this one!
Holly P. - 5 years 6 months ago“Concrete Rose” is the prequel to “The Hate U Give,” which is phenomenal. Not to be dramatic, but Angie Thomas can do no wrong. I have read all of her books as soon as I could, and they are all so good! While “The Hate U Give” focuses on Starr, “Concrete Rose” is the story of Starr’s dad, Maverick Carter. You definitely don’t have to read “The Hate U Give” to understand or appreciate it. Actually, I’m a bit jealous of people that can read it in the proper order. But, this story adds a lot of context to the book and the movie for “The Hate U Give,” which makes me hope for a “Concrete Rose” movie. I’d definitely recommend this book for YA lovers, or anyone looking to diversify their reading list this year. #SpringPicks
-
"Roses can bloom in the hardest conditions."
Jennifer E. - 5 years 8 months ago“What are you doing with your life?” Maverick Carter--Mav--is a self-described “a drug-dealing, gangbanging, high school flunk-out...I got two kids by two different girls at seventeen. I hurt...two of the main people who care about me only ‘cause I made them think I’m somebody I’m not. Truth is, I’m the kinda dude who end up in the news in own of them PSAs they show at school on what not to be. Since I ain’t got shit, I ain’t got shit to lose.” But “Fast money lead to a fast end...All of that ‘ride or die’ stuff, it’s nice until you feel like you’re dying from not living...One person’s hero is another person’s monster, or in my case, father,” and Mav’s is a former gang lord locked up for life. But Mav’s father reminded me of our Heavenly Father. “In Pop’s eyes, there’s a whole lot of things he ain’t saying, like I love you and I missed you. I’m pissed at you ain’t one.” Like Mav’s employer/mentor, Mr. Wyatt, “The apple don’t fall far from the tree, but it can roll away from it. It simply need a little push... “I like to be reminded that beauty can come from much of nothing. To me that’s the whole point of flowers...Roses, they’re fascinating li’l things. Can handle more than folks think...They could easily survive without any help. We want them to thrive. We’ll have to prune them...getting rid of what they don’t need...If it doesn’t help them grow...Snip it off...I suppose it’s like the Word says: ‘Calleth those things that be not as though they were.’ Romans 4:17...It’s kinda like how we have to do with ourselves. Get rid of things that don’t do us any good. If it won’t help the rose grow, you’ve gotta let it go.” Mav discovers, “Flowers, fruits, and vegetables can grow anywhere, among anything. They were made for that. I mean c’mon, when God made that sh--stuff...he didn’t put them in garden plots. He put them out in the wild or whatever and gave them everything they needed to survive.” In the midst of this COVID concrete, Angie Thomas’ prequel to The Hate U Give is the literary version of the Bachelor invitation, “Will you accept this rose?” It’s affirmation that into whatever circumstance you are born, “Your beauty is a gift to the world.” “Roses can bloom in the hardest conditions.” Like roses, people deserve a chance.