Bri, 16, dreams of being a rapper like her father, who was killed in a drive- by shooting when she was young. African American Bri has talent but knows making it also requires exposure and connections. In the meantime, with money tight at home, she helps out by reselling candy at her mostly white arts high school. After Bri’s candy-filled backpack is confiscated at a routine school security check and she is thrown to the ground and handcuffed, rumors fly that she was selling drugs. Bri channels her anger at what happened, and at the fact Black and brown kids at her school are often treated as suspect, into a rap song that blows up online. Bri’s family and friends know the tough, defiant attitude Bri displays in the song is not who she really is. At the same time, a producer has taken an interest in the song and Bri’s career, but wants to further cultivate an image of Bri that offers no room for nuance and no understanding that her posturing was a way to express pain and illuminate injustice. Bri, her family, and friends are dealing with many challenges, from economic struggles and racism to the threat of gangs and drug violence, but they are also loving, lively, funny, poignant characters in this vivid, visceral, heartfelt, ultimately hopeful work. (Age 13 and older)

The YA love letter to hip-hop—streaming on Paramount+ September 23, 2022! Starring Sanaa Lathan (in her directorial debut), Jamila C. Gray, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Lil Yachty, Method Man, Mike Epps, GaTa (Davionte Ganter), Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Titus Makin Jr., and Michael Anthony Cooper Jr.

#1 New York Times bestseller · Seven starred reviews · Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book

This digital edition contains a letter from the author, deleted scenes, a picture of the author as a teen rapper, an annotated playlist, Angie’s top 5 MCs, an annotated rap, illustrated quotes from the book, and an excerpt from Concrete Rose, Angie's return to Garden Heights.

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill. But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral . . . for all the wrong reasons.

Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want to make it—she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.

Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn’t always free.

“For all the struggle in this book, Thomas rarely misses a step as a writer. Thomas continues to hold up that mirror with grace and confidence. We are lucky to have her, and lucky to know a girl like Bri.”—The New York Times Book Review

Plus don't miss Concrete Rose, Angie Thomas's powerful prequel to her phenomenal bestseller, The Hate U Give!