The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give is by debut author Angie Thomas.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, Khalil’s death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Starr’s best friend at school suggests he may have had it coming. When it becomes clear the police have little interest in investigating the incident, protesters take to the streets and Starr’s neighborhood becomes a war zone. What everyone wants to know is: What really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could destroy her community. It could also endanger her life.

The Breakdown:
1.  Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and her own childhood, Thomas tackles a controversial topic.  This could have easily been a very heavy and preachy book, but Thomas keeps a well balance of the important issues and humor.

2. I loved the character of Starr.  She is a girl torn between two worlds.  The neighborhood she has grown up is a poorer African-American area where there are  gangs and drugs dealers easily spotted on the streets, but she goes to a upper class private school where is she is only one of a handful of black students.   Her life is turned upside down when she witnesses her friend killed by a police officer is a traffic stop.  She is not only dealing with the grief, but the fear of whether to speak out on what she saw or not.

3. I like that Thomas not only tackles racism in America, but the issue of black-on-black crime with the gang and drug issues.  She manages with call out racism issues in the police without making all policemen the bad guy.  I really appreciate this since my father is police officer, and taught me to judge people by their actions and not their skin color.

To Read or Not to Read:
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