From the Stacks: Book details struggle to assert identity

In "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas, 16-year-old Bri has a dream: to become a successful rapper.

She's practically local rap royalty already. Her father was an underground rap star who was slain by gang members when Bri was young. She knows she has the talent, but the rest of her life is working against her. Her mother lost her job, their apartment has no heat and she's constantly getting in trouble at school.

All of these factors, however, just make Bri want to achieve success even more. When she makes it big, all of these other problems will fade. Bri's mother, on the other hand, firmly believes Bri needs to focus on school instead of rapping.

Torn between her dream and her mother's wishes, Bri enlists her aunt as her manager and secures a spot onstage at a rap battle, which she soundly wins. Her aunt then sets up a recording session for Bri so she can record her first song, inspired largely by a traumatic incident with her school's security officers.

Bit by bit, Bri's song gains popularity until it becomes something of a viral sensation. She is thrilled until she realizes her lyrics are being misinterpreted. Suddenly, she's the target of criticism and threats from a variety of sources, not the least of which being the violent gang that killed her father years ago. Everyone seems to think she's violent, she's in a gang, she's every stereotype assigned to poor black children from poor neighborhoods.

When big name producers and managers start courting her and wanting her to embrace the image she has inadvertently created, Bri is faced with a decision: Does she turn down the promise of money and fame in exchange for her integrity, or does she do what her new manager asks and become the stereotype everyone already seems to think she is?

In her sophomore effort, Thomas is every bit as compelling as her bestselling and award-winning debut novel, "The Hate U Give." Bri's struggle to assert herself when other people have already made assumptions about her character will resonate with a lot of teen and young adult readers. Her desire to follow her dreams while her mother demands focus on school also rings true.

Bri is a deeply sympathetic character who loves her family, loves her neighborhood and loves her craft. She stumbles along the way to her come up, but grows into a character readers will really root for. Thomas excels at creating relevant, issue-driven fiction that never feels preachy, didactic or heavy-handed. "On the Come Up" tackles tough situations with panache and cements Thomas' reputation as a vital shining star of the young adult book world.

Courtney Waters is the teen services manager for the Missouri River Regional Library.