On the Come Up

„On the Come Up“ von Angie Thomas ist ein inspirierender und wunderschön geschriebener Roman, der die Reise von Bri verfolgt, einer talentierten jungen Rapperin, die davon träumt, in der Musikindustrie groß rauszukommen. Das Buch befasst sich mit wichtigen Themen wie Rassismus, Armut und der Macht der Stimme und zeigt gleichzeitig die Stärke und Widerstandsfähigkeit seiner sympathischen und gut entwickelten Charaktere. Thomas‘ Geschichtenerzählen sind gleichermaßen kraftvoll und fesselnd, was sie zu einer Pflichtlektüre für Leser jeden Alters macht. Insgesamt ist „On the Come Up“ ein fantastisches Buch, das einen bleibenden Eindruck hinterlässt und bedeutungsvolle Gespräche anregt.

Not as dramatic as its predecessor but this book doesn't need a tragic death to be all the rage. And rage it has a lot! Sixteen year old Brianna called 'Bri' lives in the Garden (same one as in Angie Thomas' first novel) with her family. They are poor and become absolutely broke when her mom loses her job. No power, no gas, no food, nearly evicted, is the daily routine of her family. Bri has got a lot to be mad about. She wants to step into her dead daddy's footsteps and be a rapper. She figures if she actually can make money from it she'd be able to help her family. Bri visits a school in a better neighbourhood. Security at school is known to pick up on black and latino students more than on others. Due to an incident which left a mark on Bri she puts all her raging energy into a song about the manhandle of the securities she had to endure. When she gets the chance to pulish her song, it goes off like a bomb. Many people her age like the song, some find in Bri their enemy number one to blame for circumstances and some in her hood become a real danger to Bri. Because her allegoric song is widely misinterpreted and the words taken literally, she's seen like a gangster's daughter acting gangster. She stumbles into a lot of trouble. Even her family thinks that she sometimes takes it too far and wants her to stop. Bri has to think about who she is, what other people's opinions create and who she wants to be. Angie Thomas wrote an awesome first novel and her second one doesn't need to hide either. I enjoyed the story. And it has a believable end I can live with even though until the very last pages, I didn't know how Thomas would finish her story. I highly recommend everyone who can to read her novel in English since I'm not sure if all the language and slang would translate authentically into German without seeming superimposed.