Concrete Rose gives us teenage Maverick Carter (Starr from [b:The Hate U Give|32075671|The Hate U Give (The Hate U Give, #1)|Angie Thomas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1476284759l/32075671._SY75_.jpg|49638190]'s father), showing us how Starr and her half brother Seven came to be. I don't read a lot of books with cis male protagonists, so it took a minute to get into Mav's head, especially knowing that there would be some bad choices in his future. It's fun, though, to meet him and the rest of the adults of The Hate U Give when they're kids themselves.

The basic elements for 17-year-old Mav are his gang, deaths of loved ones, births, maturing relationships with his parents and girlfriend, and struggles at school, all working together to push manhood on him sooner than he expects or wants it.

I'm not hugely up on Tupac lyrics, but I see that, like THUG, Concrete Rose is Tupac-related. I love knowing there's some sophisticated poetry/symbolism behind a YA novel.