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I loved The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas when I read it in 2017 - it was important then, and it is important now. Concrete Rose is no less so, although it isn’t as in your face about it. A prequel to THUG (though they don’t have to be read in any particular order), Concrete Rose follows Maverick, Starr’s father, before he was her dad - back when he was a teenager, a new father, and a gang member trying to find a way forward. I can only think of one other book about teen pregnancy from the male perspective: The First Part Last by Angela Johnson, which speaks volumes about how needed this book is. As a teacher, this representation is EVERYTHING, from the cover to the content itself - this book speaks to the very same issues some of my students face. I can’t think of any other book in my classroom library like it. While I found the book to be repetitive and slow at times, I can’t stress enough how glad I am that this book exists so that the right readers can find it. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ TW: death of a loved one ID in alt text! via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/CNXk-ZuL6kO/