In Concrete Rose, we meet those who raised Maverick – from his mother and cousin to Mr Wyatt, the local shop owner and harsh taskmaster who gives Mav a job. He knew his father was incarcerated but he said that for Maverick to be the type of father he is, somebody had to lay the foundations parenting-wise. “When I toured for The Hate U Give, he was asked most about, and he had such a wide range of fans.” But it was speaking with the actor Russell Hornsby, who played Maverick in the film adaptation, that sparked the new storyline: “He asked me about Maverick’s parents. Zooming from her home office in Jackson, Mississippi, Thomas tells me it was her readers who made her think about returning to Maverick Carter. How can he escape the gang he’s affiliated with, when the only routes out are prison or death? Once again, the reader is transported to the fictional US city of Garden Heights and the pacey, highly readable story of “Mav”, whose world is turned upside down when he becomes a father. Readers of The Hate U Give will recognise Maverick as Starr Carter’s father, and Concrete Rose – Thomas’s third novel – is effectively its prequel.
In her new young adult novel, Concrete Rose, drugs and violence are more than discussed: the book follows 17-year-old Maverick Carter, a self-described “drug-dealing, gangbanging, high school flunkout … who got two kids by two different girls”. “The initial objection focused on swearing and the discussion of sexual acts and drugs. “Adults don’t like talking about teenage sex, they don’t want to get uncomfortable.” She has good reason to think so: The Hate U Give, her bestselling debut, was pulled from schools in the city of Katy, Texas. “Absolutely, I’m expecting it,” she replies. A ngie Thomas does not hesitate when I ask whether her new novel will be banned somewhere.
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