Couldn't put it down

I read this as I am trying to listen and learn more in the hope of being a better ally.

This book was so interesting, and also heartbreaking, it also showed me how ignorant I was/am about UK Black History.

I am white, 46 and female, I learned NOTHING about this at school, I learned about the usual 1066, Kings and Queens and WWII.

Also while learning about WWII we were not given all of the information, I only learned later on in life (and this is as recently as 5 or so years ago) that Hitler was voted in by Germany!

As far as I was concerned, he just rocked up and tried to take over the world, how was I not taught something like that?

So in my eyes we didn't have that much of a race problem in the UK, it's only in America right?

Boy was I wrong!

Had I heard about things like the Brixton riots in 1981? Absolutely, did I know what caused them? Nope

I was 8 at the time, I think I remember seeing it on the news, but I didn't know what it was for or about.

Did I also know about the Brixton riots of 1985?

Again yes, this may be the one I am remembering as I was a little older, but did I know why? Nope Did I ask my parents why? Maybe, but I don't remember if I did, or the answer if they gave one.

Both of these riots were caused by police brutality, one of them was because of the police letting themselves into a house with keys they had stolen, and shooting a woman in the chest WHILE SHE WAS IN BED, because they were "searching for her son" who incidentally didn't even live there!

Did I know about slavery in the UK? Absolutely not! Slavery is just something that you see in America right? Yeah that's wrong too, because we had it here too.

Did I know about Windrush? Again no, I only learned about it in the last few years because of the coverage about in on our news.

Anything that I have learned has not been through my school education, it has been through reading, and I still have so much more to learn because one book doesn't do it!

I am and have been ignorant about things that have happened in the country that I have grown up in, and I really only have myself to blame for that.

I absolutely think that this should be taught in schools, some of the stuff that was talked about in this book I had NO idea about, I can probably try and make an excuse and say that the Internet wasn't around then so I didn't know any different, but I'm not going to.

It's MY ignorance that has made me not see what has been happening, and it is MY job to educate myself and know the reasons why.

Are Black people angry? Too Fu*king right they are, and with bloody good reason!

I will still continue to read and learn because I want to be a better person, and I think that I am ok with that, is it enough? Absolutely not, but taking baby steps to better myself, is better than not taking any steps at all.

Hose me down with cold water, this one was HOT!!!!

Another super sexy story by Lauren Blakely with fantastic narration

Welcome to the scary mind of Christina Dalcher, buckle up buttercup, it's a bumpy ride!

Elena Fairchild is a teacher at a Silver school, this is an elite school for children, and teachers that have a high Q (IQ) score.

She is married to Malcolm who works in the Department of Education, and has two beautiful daughters Anne and Freddie.
Elena's Q score automatically gets a bump-up for being married, and for Malcolm having such a high profile job.

Both of her daughters are at the silver school, they are both doing very well with their education, although Freddie sometimes needs a little help.

But, what happens to those people with lower Q scores?

Well with a high Q you get higher privileges, quicker lines at the supermarkets, better jobs, better neighbourhoods etc.

Depending how low the Q scores are, they can go down into the Green section, or if it is really low, the Yellow section.

With monthly testing, it is within your best interest to keep your Q score up, everyone can see everyone else's scores too, so there is an added incentive to keep your score high, or higher than your friends & neighbours.

It is time for the monthly Q test, and Elena is naturally worried for her kids, not so much Anne who is obsessed with everyone else's scores, and who is also Malcolm's favourite child, she is the brightest of the two children, Freddie however seems to be a very anxious child and is prone to episodes of blocking people out, she is not looking forward to the test.

Every child looks out for their school bus, but always keep their heads down when they see the Yellow Bus arrive, you see, the Yellow bus as I mentioned before signifies that you or your child got a very low Q score, you will then be collected by the Yellow Bus and taken to a school/job that you are more 'suited' to out of the area/county, what that really means is "out of sight, out of mind" these people do not tend to come back!

It doesn't really matter when it happens to somebody else's kids, but when Freddie gets her Yellow Card through the post. Elena seems to realise that she may never see her daughter again, and she seems to be the only one bothered by it!

I really enjoyed this dystopian read, and it really made me think about where I would be in this hierarchy, I definitely think I would have been on the Yellow Bus!!

This was an enjoyable read, and it does have some important messages to everyone about bullying.

The one thing that i did take from it all is that i'm so glad that i am not still in school, as kids are just HORRID!

Told from the POV of 4 girls, this story interweaves itself with the 'growing up' of kids in high school, the bullying, fat shaming, victim shaming, slut shaming, religion shaming, and every other shaming that you can think of.

Throughout the book, i think that Ulana was the only 'grown up' in the whole bunch of the girls, and i'm so glad that social media wasn't around when i was that age!