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Concrete Rose: A Printz Honor Winner
Concrete Rose: A Printz Honor Winner
Concrete Rose: A Printz Honor Winner
Audiobook8 hours

Concrete Rose: A Printz Honor Winner

Written by Angie Thomas

Narrated by Dion Graham

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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About this audiobook

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.

Editor's Note

Long-awaited origin story…

Angie Thomas’ prequel to “The Hate U Give” follows our favorite character from the original novel: Maverick Carter, Starr’s father. At 17, Maverick hasn’t yet grown into the Big Mav we know and love from “THUG”; on the cusp of adulthood, he’s still navigating his way through the expectations of manhood, of his father’s legacy as a gangster, of young parenthood. This is the origin story we’ve all been waiting for, and in Thomas’ masterful hands, it remains fresh and spellbinding.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherBalzer Bray
Release dateJan 12, 2021
ISBN9780063043817
Concrete Rose: A Printz Honor Winner
Author

Angie Thomas

Angie Thomas is the author of the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling novels The Hate U Give, On the Come Up, and Concrete Rose as well as Find Your Voice: A Guided Journal for Writing Your Truth. She is also a coauthor of the bestselling collaborative novels Blackout and Whiteout. Angie divides her time between her native Jackson, Mississippi, and Atlanta, Georgia. You can find her online at angiethomas.com.

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Reviews for Concrete Rose

Rating: 4.593930655202312 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

692 ratings39 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Angie, you didn’t need to do this. Okay that’s not actually true.

    While I loved THUG, Maverick’s story was what I needed. It is gritty and authentic. More often than not, we see the boys on the block who are slinging, but we don’t stop to question why.

    THUG shoes the audience how Maverick has gotten out of the gang and become this wise dad that his kids look up to. But it’s obvious that his story wasn’t all sunshine and daisies.

    From start to finish, I was heavily engrossed in Maverick’s story. It was heartbreaking, eye opening, and even providing a little comedic relief along the way.

    So much of his story was my own growing up, and to see that reflected on the pages is something that I’m still trying to put into words.

    This book will call into question your biases and privilege, but I implore you to open your mind and let Maverick’s story in.

    2 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Couldn’t asked for a great narrator!
    Beautiful story from Angie! ??

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Woah This Was A Good Book Omg I Love This So Much

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I read THE HATE YOU GIVE before discovering this book (Concrete Rose). Either order works, each stands alone. The power of love and hope shine through both and give me hope for our futures.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Dion Graham is a fantastic narrator. And as far as I’m concerned, Angie Thomas could not write a bad book if she tried.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    it was so very interesting with lots of twists and turns. the story teller was also great at reading the story aloud. ????
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book had me invested in Mav. This book definitely had me on edge at times too. Mav has become another beloved figure.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love it! Just as good as T.H.U.G.. would listen again!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Damn... Angie did it again. I get lost in her books! So good!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was written in such a smooth conversational way, I found myself engulfed in the book. Written more from a young adult’s perspective, it also gave light to different generational view points. The book was given 4 stars instead of 5 because the ending lacked fullness and fell flat.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Such a great story really the narration makes it. Couldn't ask for a better reader. Just wonderful!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great book , loved everything about it from beginning to end !
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Angie Thomas is such a phenomenal author her stories are wonderful and characters full of life. This prequel is absolutely amazing, a beautiful story of how a kid became a man. It had me hooked from the beginning, I was really excited to learn about Maverick’s past and how he became who he is in “The Hate you Give.”
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    “When it comes to the streets theres rules”. This book was just wowwww. I’m blown away with the action and drama that occurred in this great piece. I enjoyed this book. It definitely meet my expectations of it. I have the authors writing style. This had thinking about my own high school experience how it easily could have what a different way. I cried for the characters and I laughed at them as well. It interesting to see and experience how Maverick life was before Star came a long. Applause, Applause definitely worth the hype.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Angie Thomas is a new voice for this generation and Dion Graham can do no wrong. With that combination this audio was a hit!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fantastic! Great story line kept me hooked the entire time
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    tão incrível! feliz demais de ter finalizado meu primeiro audiobook e ainda mais por ter sido tão imersivo. superando todas as minhas expectativas. amei!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Angie Thomas never disappoints!
    4,5 ⭐ ⭐⭐⭐
    Mav Carter ❤️
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Wasn't a huge fan of the reader's voice. Very detailed but lacked substance. Angie's first 2 books were better. Needed a redeeming ending, but fell flat.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Awesome book!! I
    Will read 10 more times!! Great work!!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fantastic book. I really enjoyed this. Great narator as well.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    this was absolutely phenomenal, imo i loved it more than The hate u give. maverick was an amazing dad, Lisa was amazing, his Mom was amazing, Dre was amazing, Seven was amazing. Mr. Wyatt was amazing, everything about this book was amazing. READ IT!!!!!!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    ANGIE THOMAS HAS DONE IT AGAIN!!! This was hands-down amazing in every sense!

    I went in thinking that this is a 5-star prediction for me and I was definitely not disappointed. Admittedly, there might have been some relevant details from The Hate U Give that I may have missed, but still, this book D E L I V E R E D what it promised. Concrete Rose follows Maverick Carter before he was even dubbed Big Mav. It tells the story of Mav owning up to his responsibilities as a father at only seventeen years old. Taking care of a kid while being a kid yourself is definitely a tough pill to swallow. Add to that a ground-shaking event in his life that will change him forever. Mav has to accept and live with the fact that he can't simply do the things he used to do before.

    Concrete Rose was hilarious and heartwarming at all the right moments. If you're planning to read this, please listen to the audiobook because the acting and the narration are on point!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Another brilliant book beautifully read. I laughed and I cried. A fabulous writer.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "A black woman's hair is always serious."

    Well Done Angie, Well Done...
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Angie Thomas is phenomenal - and I am about as far outside her target audience as one can get - a 56 year old middle class white guy. "The Hate U Give" was one of the best books of the year. "On the Come Up" was one of the best books of the year. And "Concrete Rose" follows that trend.The protagonist, Maverick Carter, is harsh, tough, and deeply, deeply flawed. Yet, in Angie Thomas' hands, he is a sympathetic hero that you can't help but love and root for.Maverick is 17, and in a local gang. He sells weed as he is too young an inexperienced to be trusted by the "big homies" with the hard drugs. When he finds out near the beginning of the book that the baby of one of his closest friends is actually his, he suddenly finds himself a father with a child to support, because the mother abandons him. Maverick decides he has to quit selling drugs and go straight for his son. But going straight is hard. Most of his friends pressure him to follow the gang path, and his job at Mr. Wyatt's store sure isn't bringing in the money he needs. When his cousin is gunned down, bad things take a turn for the worse. Maverick feels duty-bound to avenge Dre's murder... even though he doesn't have any way of knowing for certain who did it, and even though he's never killed before. And then... he's got a second child on the way from the girl he actually loves.It's a complicated life Maverick is living. Which path will he choose?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Thomas is a brilliant writer, so of course I loved this book, too. My only quibble is where in the story she chose to end it — there were important events we know about from Hate U Give that I wanted to see unfold.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    In this prequel to The Hate U Give, we see more of Maverick's story as a young teen learning that he has fathered a child and the decisions he must make as a result.This was a very compelling read, especially given that we have already met and come to love (or hate in some cases) many of these characters in The Hate U Give. While it fills in much of Maverick's background, there are still some things left unanswered between this novel and the one set 16 years later, so there's potential for yet another book to come in this universe. I would certainly snap that one up as well, being as Thomas is such a readable author with stories that keep you invested. This book certainly works best as a companion to The Hate U Give, but it could work well enough as a standalone title.(Apologies if this review is on the vague side; I took too long between reading and reviewing.)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Another solid YA novel from Angie Thomas. Even if you haven't read The Hate U Give, you can enjoy this prequel. The Hate U Give is about Starr, and Concrete Rose focuses on her dad as a teenager. It doesn't have the non-stop action of her other books, but it's very good. Teens will especially enjoy the street smart kids and how they navigate their world. It's definitely for a more mature teen.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is the back story of Maverick (Mav) Carter, the patriarch of the family in The Hate U Give. Mav is a drug dealer, and is starting his senior year of high school. He is dating Lisa, but when they broke up, he connected with another girl, and now finds he has a son.Mav starts taking responsibility for his son, and does what he needs to do to clean up his life. Neighbors look out for him, and help him move forward. I loved THUG, so I had high expectations for this book, but it just didn't have the same appeal for me.