The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Hammonds Reed, Christina. The Black Kids. Simon and Schuster, 2020.

The novel is broken up into three sections: “Before,” “During,” and “After.” “Before” begins with a prologue narrated in first-person past by Ashley Bennett, the book’s narrator. She was five when the Los Angeles hills caught on fire and she and her family were evacuated from their home. The first chapter switches to first-person present. Ashley and her three best girlfriends, Courtney, Kimberly, and Heather, skip school. Kimberly’s boyfriend, Michael, arrives with his best friend, Trevor, and they all decide to break into another pool together. Ashley flirts with Michael behind Kimberly’s back. Ashley and Michael recently hooked up without Kimberly knowing about it, and Ashley is confused about how she feels toward him and Kimberly. The police are called and the kids are all sent back to school. They blame Ashley for being Black and getting them all caught.

Ashley’s nanny, Lucia, picks her up and takes her to meet her mother and older sister, Jo. Jo is estranged from the family because she dropped out of college and married a white man named Harrison. Ashley feels conflicted about her sister. She idolizes her in some ways, but she is also frustrated with her constant depression and strange behavior. At Jo’s new apartment in South Central, Ashley listens as her sister and Harrison talk about the Rodney King trial and predict riots if the police are not convicted. Jo and her mother get into a fight and Ashley leaves with her mother. Back at home, Ashley’s parents pack up Jo’s room.

Ashley goes to a prestigious private school and is one of the only Black students who is not on a scholarship. She is intrigued by the other Black kids at her school, especially handsome sports star LaShawn, but she keeps her distance from them. When Ashley learns that LaShawn got into Stanford, her dream school, she is jealous, especially when she gets a letter informing her that she is only on the waitlist. After school, Ashley goes to the bank and sees on the news that the courts did not convict the police in the trial. Riots begin and Ashley’s parents try to convince Jo to come home where it is safe, but she refuses.

In “During,” Ashley’s father calls his brother Ronnie and tries to convince him and his daughter, Morgan, to leave South Central and come stay with them where it is safe. Ashley watches the news and sees a looter running out of a store with boxes of shoes. At school, she notices LaShawn is wearing brand new shoes. She tells her friends that he probably stole them in the riots. She calls her sister from the payphone to check on her, but Jo says she is going out to pass out flyers at the riot. Ashley smokes weed with Michael in his car and has an anxiety attack. After school, she talks to a shy girl named Lana who tells her she heard a rumor that LaShawn stole his shoes in the riot. Ashley goes home and discovers that her uncle has dropped off her cousin Morgan. Morgan is Ashley’s age but the two girls are not close and rarely see one another.

The next day, Ashley goes to school and feels guilty when LaShawn gets called to the principal’s office for supposedly stealing shoes. After he is released, he punches a boy who calls him a thief and is suspended. The Black kids hold a protest after school for LaShawn. Ashley’s friends invite her to come over since it is Friday night and prom is on Saturday. Ashley decides to hang out with Lana instead. Lana lives in the guest house of her mother’s friends’ house. Her mother is abusive and cruel, but her mother’s friends, Pham and Brad, are a kind gay couple who Ashley instantly adores. Ashley gets drunk with Lana then comes home and calls Jo again to ask her to come home. Jo says she is a communist and revolution is too important to run from.

The next morning, Ashley’s father is watching the news on the couch. Ashley sits down next to him and asks him how his mother died. He does not tell her, and he has never talked about it before. Uncle Ronnie’s store is broken into and he sustains injuries trying to protect his business. Ashley is sad because it is prom and she has no one to do her hair. Morgan does her hair for her.

Ashley goes to prom with her friends. Kimberly finds out that Ashley had sex with Michael. Kimberly pushes Ashley into a fountain and calls her a racial slur. LaShawn arrives and ushers Ashley into his hotel suite so she can change her clothes. He offers to braid her hair and she accepts. She admits she started the rumor about him stealing the shoes. He is angry and says he wants to go home.

Ashley steals Trevor’s car and drives LaShawn home, but when they get there his parents are gone and the police nearly shoot them. They try to go back home, but someone pops their car’s tire. Ashley calls Lana and she arrives with Pham to fix the tire. They all drive back to Lana’s house and spend the night. Early in the morning, Ashley and LaShawn wake up and go outside to talk. They both apologize to one another and then they kiss.

In “After,” Ashley and LaShawn go back to the hotel where all their friends are staying but then Lucia intercepts them and tells Ashley Jo has been arrested for participating in the riot. They go downtown to bail her out and bring her home. Ashley goes back to school the next day and is insulted by Kimberly. She does not know who to sit with, but LaShawn invites her to sit with him and the Black kids. They join a church excursion to clean up South Central. Jo’s sister goes to court and is sentence to 18 months in jail. In the end, Ashley goes to the beach with Lana and LaShawn. Courtney and Heather arrive, which surprises her. When the Black kids arrive, they all build a sandcastle together.