Point of View

The novel is told from the point of view of Ashley Bennett, a 17-year-old girl living in Los Angeles during the Rodney King riots. Ashley is a sheltered and spoiled girl whose parents have given her everything she has ever wanted or asked for. She attends a prestigious private school and is only friends with white girls who share her same lifestyle. She is emotionally cut off from Black culture of any sort in her daily life. Her cousin Morgan, who lives just a few miles away in South Central, is basically a stranger to her because their fathers are always arguing and never spend any time together.

When the riots break out, Ashley is emotionally unprepared to deal with the consequences. She is a senior in high school and all she cares about is prom, getting into Stanford, and whether or not Michael is...