REVIEW OF ON THE COME UP


A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Thomas, Angie. ON THE COME UP. New York City, NY: Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 9780062498564.


B. PLOT SUMMARY
Bri is a high school student whose passion is rapping. She lives with her mother and brother in an urban neighborhood populated by gangs and gang culture. There are two main rival gangs in their neighborhood, the Garden Disciples (whose color is green) and the Crowns (whose color is gray.) Bri’s father, a legendary rapper in the neighborhood, was killed by members from the Crowns gang years before.

One day Bri gets a phone call saying that an opportunity to rap at a public event has become available for her. The event is a contest between rappers to determine who is best at spontaneous rapping. The rappers and the audience refers to it as battling in the ring. Bri wins her event and quickly becomes known for her victory in her neighborhood.

The next day at school, while passing through security at the front door, Bri is required to allow a search of her backpack. She argues with the guards. She is taken to the ground as they force her to comply, and they find candy that she had brought to school to sell to make some money. Bri gets suspended for bringing candy onto campus to sell; and to top it off, Bri finds out that her mother got let go from her job at the church due to budget constraints. Later that day, Bri’s Aunt Pooh tells her that she’s arranged a meeting with a music producer to record a rap song by Bri. They are to go to the producer’s studio the next day.

The following day, Bri and her Aunt Pooh go to the producers studio. The producer records Bri as she raps a song of her own creation. A number of days later, Bri shares the song with the man who had been her father’s manager, “Supreme”. The manager arranges to have the song posted on a popular blogsite app, “Dat Cloud”. Bri’s song is now publicly available. Very quickly, it becomes a hit. Aunt Pooh wants to promote Bri through more rap battles in the ring. Aunt Pooh takes Bri to the building where the event is hosted. On the way into the building Aunt Pooh (a Garden Disciple) gets into an altercation with a member of the Crowns gang. All participants in the dispute are forced to leave the premises, ruining Bri’s chance to perform that evening.

Although the guards had been removed from duty for a few days, they are back on duty the next day at school. The students protest that they are being allowed to remain on duty after their harsh treatment of Bri. The protest turns into violence as the guards are assaulted by some of the students.

Later, Bri meets with Supreme who advises her to let him manage her. He explains how she can be much more successful under his management. She considers it, but feels conflicted since it would mean not having her Aunt Pooh be her manager anymore.

Besides becoming extremely popular on the Dat Cloud app, Bri’s Instagram account is blowing up. One evening she goes on it to find that people are sharing a link to another user’s post criticizing Bri’s now-famous rap song, and posting a petition to have it taken down from Dat Cloud. Bri goes live on her Instagram account to denounce this attempt to censor her. She uses both aggressive language and profanity to make her point, and she closes by flipping off her critics live on her Instagram account. The next morning she realizes that she may have made a poor decision in responding in this manner.

To counter the negative press that Bri has been getting, and to try to more fully show the situation on oppression of the school police on the students of color, Bri and her friends Sonny and Malik put together a music video combining her song with video clips showing Bri being manhandled by the school police. Upon completion, they post it to YouTube. On the way home from recording and posting the music video, Bri and Malik get stopped by a Crown gang member. He knocks Malik down and, at gunpoint, steals a family heirloom necklace that Bri’s mom had given her. It had been a prized possession of her father; and, after Bri’s mom gave it to her, a prized possession of Bri. Bri tells her Aunt Pooh what happened, and Aunt Pooh goes in search of the gang member and the necklace.

A few days later, the Superintendent of the school district hosts a PTA meeting to address the recent activities at the school. Bri and her mother attend the meeting with many of her friends from school. Very little is resolved because the Superintendent cannot answer or address most questions because of the “ongoing investigation”. Luckily, Bri ad her mother get a chance at a private conversation with the Superintendent. It goes well; it seems that progress is possible. Furthermore, Bri’s mom let’s the Superintendent know that she is applying for the open secretary position in his office.

After many days of waiting, Bri finally hears from her Aunt Pooh. They arrange to meet. Unfortunately, while they are meeting, the police show up to arrest Aunt Pooh. One of Bri’s school mates, Curtis, happens to be in the area. He sees what’s happening and rushes Bri away before she can be swept up in the police arrest of her Aunt Pooh. After he gets her to safety in his grandmother’s house, they are able to talk about what is happening. During the conversation they realize that they have feelings for each other. It appears that these feelings are going to change their relationship to something more than friendship.

A few days later Bri goes to a radio interview that her manager Supreme had arranged for her. The goal is to promote her song. However, the interviewer tries to push Bri’s buttons, and he is successful. Bri responds angrily, ends the on-air live interview prematurely, and storms out. Supreme thinks this will end up being good for Bri’s music career. Supreme later arranges for Bri to record a song at a successful producer’s studio. Bri is unhappy about it because she didn’t write the song, yet she is asked to perform it. She goes ahead and does it anyway.

Bri and her mother go visit Aunt Pooh who is in jail. Aunt Pooh is unrepentant. Bri’s mother, Aunt Pooh’s sister, is unhappy that Aunt Pooh is not changing her ways. Bri and her mother leave the jail. On the way home, Bri’s mom gets a phone call to go in for an interview for the secretary position in the Superintendent’s office.   

A number of days later, Bri returns to The Ring to compete in a rap battle. This is a special appearance by Bri that is advertised by The Ring as her return. Her supporters are there, as well as a number of Crown gang members, including the one who stole her father’s necklace from her. He taunts her as she is about to begin. The original plan had been for Bri to perform a rap that she did not write, but she chooses not to do that. Instead, she raps an original creation on the spot that proclaims her place in the world, and her independence.  

 

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
The cultural details in this novel begin on the first page. The author uses extensive African American urban slang to describe the protagonist’s thoughts. For instance, the author writes the following. “It doesn’t matter how many punch lines they spit or how nice their flow is. I’ll have to kill them.” The slang nouns and verbs are common in urban African American dialogue in the years 2018-2019. The expressions “punch lines” refers to lyrics in rapping, “spit” is the action of rapping lyrics, and “flow” is how well the lyrics fit together, and “to kill them” means to win a rapping contest against another rapper in a public setting.

Since this novel is about an aspiring rapper, there are references to music, specifically rap music, a form of music first popularized in the African American community. One reference is to a song by a famous rapper named Biggie Smalls. The song is “Sky’s the Limit”, and it represents a motto that the protagonist of the novel shares with her Aunt Pooh. Later in the novel, Bri starts discussing who her favorite rappers are. Some of them (Biggie Smalls, Tupac Shakur, and Lauryn Hill) might be familiar to even old white men, like this reviewer; but many of them (Jean Grae, Rakim, and Rapsody) would be familiar only to people more conversant in the hip-hop community.

Clothing is also an important cultural icon in the novel. When Bri goes with her Aunt Pooh to meet the studio producer, Bri is wearing a plaid shirt under a bubble vest and a trapper hat to top off the ensemble. This is one of the classic clothing combinations of the hip-hop community. It is such an iconic look that Biggie Smalls rapped about it in his song “Juicy”. Bri’s Aunt Pooh references it when she says, “I see you rocking the Juicy special.”  

Another cultural clothing item in the novel are Timberland boots. Timberland boots (“Timbs”) are extremely fashionable with the hip-hop community. So, when Bri wants to fit into the rapping crowd she feels compelled to wear shoes that are imitation Timberland boots. Since neither she nor her mother can afford to buy the name brand shoes, she has to wear knockoffs. An important moment in her life occurs later in novel when the man who wants to be her manager gives her a gift of a pair of brand new Timberland boots.

The cultural marker that pervades the entire novel is the slang that Bri and her community speak. The words and expressions are specific to their culture, and identify the speakers’ backgrounds. Starting with the title of the book, “On The Come Up” is an expression shared between Bri, her Aunt Pooh, and the entire community. It means that one’s life appears to be improving. Bri’s history is filled with tragedy and sadness, but as the book’s title declares, she is indeed on the come up.  


D. AWARDS AND REVIEW EXCERPTS

Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fiction Nominee (2019)

Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction & Poetry Finalist (2019)

Cybils Award for Young Adult Fiction Finalist (2019)

Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature Finalist (2019)

Kirkus: “This honest and unflinching story of toil, tears, and triumph is a musical love letter that proves literary lightning does indeed strike twice. Thomas’ (The Hate U Give, 2017) sophomore novel returns to Garden Heights, but while Brianna may live in Starr's old neighborhood, their experiences couldn't differ more. Raised by a widowed mother, a recovering drug addict, Bri attends an arts school while dreaming of becoming a famous rapper, as her father was before gang violence ended his life. Her struggles within the music industry and in school highlight the humiliations and injustices that remain an indelible part of the African American story while also showcasing rap’s undeniable lyrical power as a language through which to find strength. Bri's journey is deeply personal: small in scope and edgy in tone. When Bri raps, the prose sings on the page as she uses it to voice her frustration at being stigmatized as “hood” at school, her humiliation at being unable to pay the bills, and her yearning to succeed in the music world on her own merit. Most importantly, the novel gives voice to teens whose lives diverge from middle-class Americana. Bri wrestles with parent relationships and boy drama—and a trip to the food bank so they don’t starve during Christmas. The rawness of Bri's narrative demonstrates Thomas’ undeniable storytelling prowess as she tells truths that are neither pretty nor necessarily universally relatable. A joyous experience awaits. Read it. Learn it. Love it.”

Booklist: “Bri, the daughter of a deceased underground rapper, is pursuing her own rap career as she overcomes a traumatic past. Thomas’ sophomore novel truly shines in its exploration of Bri’s resilience, determination, and pursuit of her dreams.”

School Library Journal: Starred Review - “While acknowledging that society is quick to slap labels onto black teens, the author allows her heroine to stumble and fall before finding her footing and her voice. Thomas once again fearlessly speaks truth to power; a compelling coming-of-age story for all teens.”

Horn Book: Starred Review - “With sharp, even piercing, characterization, this indelible and intricate story of a young girl who is brilliant and sometimes reckless, who is deeply loved and rightfully angry at a world that reduces her to less than her big dreams call her to be, provides many pathways for readers.”

 


E. CONNECTIONS
This novel describes modern life for people of color, particularly African Americans.

Readers who enjoy this novel may enjoy these novels, too:

Thomas, Angie. THE HATE U GIVE. 9780062498533

Thomas, Angie. CONCRETE ROSE. 9780062846716

Reynolds, Jason. ALL AMERICAN BOYS. 9781481463331

Reynolds, Jason. LONG WAY DOWN. 9781481438254

Reynolds, Jason. LOOK BOTH WAYS. 9781481438285

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
      Infographics                 Infographics is a method of conveying information in a concise and eye-catching way. In various incarnations, infographics can be traced as far back as the beginning of book illustrations. One such example is the illustration of “sunspots in  Rosa Ursina sive Sol , an illustrated astronomical text published by Christoph Scheiner in 1626 . ” (Evers, 2015) Another example of infographics from the 1600’s was Galileo Galilei’s Sidereus Nuncius , published in 1610. Galilei’s work used infographics to share information about Earth’s moon, the moons of Saturn, and various constellations. Thus, it can be argued that the use of infographics is 400 years old. Some have argued that infographics goes back as far as prehistoric cave paintings or Egyptian hieroglyphs, but I prefer to limit our historical identification of the usage of infographics to the post-Gutenberg press era, from the 1400’s onward. The term infographic comes from combining the t
Read more
  REVIEW OF A BIG BED FOR LITTLE SNOW   A. BIBLIOGRAPHY Lin, Grace. 2019. A BIG BED FOR LITTLE SNOW . New York City, NY: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers. ISBN 9780316478366.   B. PLOT SUMMARY At the beginning of the winter season, a boy named Little Snow gets a new bed made for him by his mother. She reminds him that it is for sleeping on, not for jumping on. He agrees to sleep on the bed, not jump on it. That night, after his mother left from tucking him in, Little Snow started jumping on his bed. When he heard his mother coming back, he lay down and pretended he hadn’t been doing anything. The next morning, after he had woken up, he decided to jump on his bed some more. When he heard his mother coming, he laid back down and pretended he hadn’t been jumping on his bed. That winter, Little Snow enjoyed jumping on his bed whenever his mother was not around. One time when he was jumping on his bed, when he landed on it he made a rip in it. Whenever he jumped on
Read more