Christina Hammonds Reed

Christina Hammonds Reed set her first novel in the Los Angeles of spring 1992, the weeks when the acquittals in the Rodney King case set the city alight. The Black Kids, published by Simon & Schuster in August 2020, is narrated by Ashley Bennett, a wealthy Black seventeen-year-old at a mostly white private school who is coasting toward graduation when the unrest begins. Ashley keeps behaving as though nothing were different while her family strains, her friendships curdle and a rumour spreads that will change several lives. The book reached the national bestseller list, was named a William C. Morris Award finalist for a debut, and took a silver medal in the California Book Awards. Reed grew up in the Los Angeles area and holds an MFA from USC's School of Cinematic Arts. Her adult novel The Johnson Four, following a father and his three sons through musical fame from the late 1960s onward, appeared in February 2026.