Angie Thomas: Concrete Rose: A Conversation with Angie Thomas

International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give in Concrete Rose—a searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood. The story begins in 1998, and features 17-year-old Maverick Carter (Starr’s father) and his girlfriend Lisa as they navigate their relationships — with each other, family, and the King Lord gang. Mav learns that he is a father at the very start of the book, and the book unfolds the many pressures and choices he faces as a teen parent trying to face his life as a gang member with his responsibility as a father.

Concrete Rose streets is a sensitive and timely exploration of masculinity, fatherhood, and identity, and Ms. Thomas is an extraordinary storyteller whose work sparks lively conversations. She stated recently that, “It was important to me above all to humanize him (Mav) because that’s the bare minimum we owe young Black boys. As a writer, the least I could do is to have a fully three-dimensional figure on the page.”

Ms. Thomas will be interviewed by Marcus Campbell, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent/Principal at Evanston Township High School in Evanston, IL. Ms. Thomas and Dr. Campbell will be joined during the event by Dion Graham, actor and narrator of the Concrete Rose audio book.