On the Come Up

by Angie Thomas

This is Popkenchurch. Popkenchurch is when you buy fried chicken and Cajun rice from Popeyes, biscuits from KFC, and fried okra and corn on the cob from Church’s. Trey calls it “pre–cardiac arrest.”

See, last year a kid was murdered by a cop just a few streets away from my grandparents’ house. He was unarmed, but the grand jury decided not to charge the officer. There were riots and protests for weeks. Half the businesses in the Garden were either intentionally burned down by rioters or were casualties of the war. Club Envy, the usual Thursday nightspot, was a casualty.

I like how Angie Thomas added a little bit of THUG into this book. Especially since they both take place in Garden Heights.

That’s when I learned that when people die, they sometimes take the living with them.

Jay says this was like having a stranger come in your house, steal one of your kids, and blame you for it because your family was dysfunctional, while the whole world judges you for being upset.

This a temporary setback for a major comeback. We ain’t letting it stop the come up.”

I’m more of a “yes, people exist, but that doesn’t mean I need to talk to them” person.

RELATABLE!