The main character's quest for romantic love is a main plot driver. She meets a boyfriend, and their relationship goes through several ups and downs. There is a brief, sweet conversation about having a first kiss, and a few kisses between couples including middle-school kids, teens, adults, and older adults.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.
There are a few mentions of brand names, including Consumer Reports magazine, Cherry Coke, and the Notes app on iPhone.
Positive Messages
a lot
Loving and accepting yourself is the basis for loving anybody else.
Positive Role Models
a lot
The main character is a member of a big Jamaican immigrant family who enjoy their traditions of comfort foods and the expectation to stick together as a clan. A group of teens participates in Inspire Harlem, a program that teaches them about Black history, community service, and environmental causes. There's a sweet dating relationship between a man and woman in their 80s. Two girls with heavier bodies than their peers have positive discussions about their self-image. Both of them have hot, popular guys as boyfriends.
Educational Value
a little
The primary focus of the book is on relationships, but there are occasional mentions of current social movements such as Black Lives Matter. The author makes an economical choice to use the names of historic Black figures (Countee Cullen, Alvin Alley) for place names. There are also quotes form people such as Michelle Obama, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Audre Lorde, which might encourge the reader to look them up.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Love is a Revolution, by Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Renée Watson (Piecing Me Together), is about 17-year-old Nala, who sets a summer goal to find love. She finds it with Tye, a teen she meets through her cousin Imani's Inspire Harlem program. At the same time, she deals with changing relationships between the members of her big, complicated Jamaican immigrant family living in Harlem. Nala and Tye's relationship goes through several ups and downs. There is a brief, sweet conversation about having a first kiss, and a few kisses between couples including middle-school kids, teens, adults, and older adults.
This book felt charming and true to life as it avoids some of the cliches you'd expect in a YA romance and veers more towards coming of age. It focuses on the evolving relationships in 17 year old Nala's life as she navigates the summer. It showcases Nala's changing relationship with her self, her family, her social world, and a romantic interest. She's a fully 3D character, with failings, strengths, agency, and her own point of view. I recommended it to my 13 year old. An 18 year old male who was listening to the audiobook in the car with me even showed interest! There's nothing objectionable here for a 12 year old, but my kids aren't interested in romance/coming of age stories yet at that age.
What's the Story?
When LOVE IS A REVOLUTION begins, 17-year-old Nala and her cousin and best friend Imani are headed out for one of the first parties of the summer. Nala lives with Imani and her parents after a falling out with Nala's mother. Lately, Imani and Nala have drifted apart. Imani has a boyfriend, and she's deeply involved with her circle of friends from Inspire Harlem, a youth group Nala has no interest in joining. Nala's goal for the summer is to find love, and she finds it with Tye. To impress him she lies about being involved in community service work and even pretends to be a vegetarian. Over the course of the summer, Nala's relationships evolve -- with her cousin, her boyfriend, her family, and most important, herself.
This charming book is a good match for teens whose interests straddle the YA and middle grade worlds. Renée Watson's Love Is a Revolution places a girl with a young teen mentality into an older teen setting (activism, parties). Though the main character gets the boyfriend she wants, she's mostly preoccupied with her changing relationship with the cousin whose family she lives with, her difficult relationship with her mother after she left home, and absorbing the wisdom of her 80-something grandma.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the theme of being yourself in Love Is a Revolution. Have you ever pretended to be something you're not to win someone's love or approval?
Do you work for any causes? What are they?
Is there a family member you have an especially close relationship with? How do you connect?
Available on:
Paperback, Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
Last updated:
June 1, 2022
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
suggesting a diversity update.
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Barbara Saunders
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
