This is a memory, and it's why Bri calls her mom “Jay” instead of “Mom.” In the morning, Bri feels excited: kids on the bus saw her rap battle video and her best friends, Sonny and Malik, congratulate her. That night, Bri has her recurring nightmare: Jay is addicted to crack and is leaving Bri and Bri's brother, Trey, with Grandma and Granddaddy. Milez insults Lawless, but Bri performs so well in the second and third rounds that she wins.

He's the son of Supreme, Lawless's old manager. When it's Bri's turn to rap, she goes up against a kid named Milez. Bri thinks that she'd like to make her own name. They skip the line and the bouncers refer to Bri as “Li'l Law”-a reference to her dad, the famous rapper Lawless, who was murdered by the Crowns gang twelve years ago. Bri's Aunt Pooh, a member of the Garden Disciples gang, takes Bri to the Ring. At home, she finds her mom, Jay, serving 'Popkenchurch,' a conglomerate fast-food meal that means something bad happened. Bri doesn't receive the call until nearly an hour later. We are lucky to have her, and lucky to know a girl like Bri.Sixteen-year-old Bri is barely able to concentrate on her ACT practice test: she's waiting for a call from DJ Hype, telling her she can participate in a rap battle in the Ring later. Thomas continues to hold up that mirror with grace and confidence. 'For all the struggle in this book, Thomas rarely misses a step as a writer.

It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn't always free. Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn't just want to make it-she has to.

for all the wrong reasons.īri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral. But it's hard to get your come up when you're labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri's got massive shoes to fill. Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. #1 New York Times bestseller - Seven starred reviews - Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book Gray, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Lil Yachty, Method Man, Mike Epps, GaTa (Davionte Ganter), Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Titus Makin Jr., and Michael Anthony Cooper Jr. The YA love letter to hip-hop-streaming on Paramount+ September 23, 2022! Starring Sanaa Lathan (in her directorial debut), Jamila C.

On the come up angie thomas