I picked up a used copy of this book from a free bookshelf at my local library.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Reviewed by Laura Browne-Lambert
Genre/s: young adult contemporary fiction, current events, race in America, Black identity, police brutality
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Published: 2017
Reader rating (Goodreads): 4.45 stars (out of five)
Content notes: Discusses race in America, Black identity, and police brutality
Notes: Good for readers prepared to sit with difficult topics and engage in difficult discussions
Summary
This is the official summary for The Hate U Give.
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, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. 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 upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
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Review
I pulled this book off a used bookshelf at my local library probably a year ago, but life had been too hectic to get into something thicker than a comic book. I finally picked it back up a week or so ago, and I flew through it. Angie Thomas' writing style does a great job of keeping up the pace while still pausing for soft moments of family and levity in the midst of very heavy subject matter. This book does a brilliant job of illustrating the human impact of police-brutality and the complexity of living as a racial minority in the United States. It might not be the book for you if you are not ready for the emotional impact of a book like this, but it is an important book that deserves the platform it's gained since its release.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who is ready to engage in a literary discussion about race and policing in the United States. It's beautifully written with a powerful message for readers. The author has a great ability to make her characters come to life with texture and personality. They'll stick around as long as the plot does. I look forward to reading more by this author in the near future.
About the Author
Angie Thomas is an inaugural winner of the Walter Dean Myers Grant awarded by We Need Diverse Books. Her award-winning, acclaimed debut young adult novel, The Hate U Give, is a #1 New York Times bestseller and major motion picture from Fox 2000, starring Amandla Stenberg and directed by George Tillman, Jr. Her second novel, On the Come Up, is a #1 New York Times bestseller as well, and Paramount’s film adaptation was directed by Sanaa Lathan, with Angie acting as a producer. In 2020, Angie released Find Your Voice: A Guided Journal to Writing Your Truth to help aspiring writers tell their stories, and in 2021, Angie returned to the top of the New York Times bestseller list with Concrete Rose, a prequel to The Hate U Give.
Angie’s series for middle-grade readers, Nic Blake and the Remarkables, is her first foray into the fantasy genre. The Manifestor Prophecy, The Book of Anansi, and the forthcoming The Threads of Fate follow twelve-year-old Nic Blake, who finds herself immersed in a magical world heavily influenced by Black history and folklore. A film adaptation is forthcoming with Angie writing the script and producing.
About the Reviewer
My name is Laura. I'm a New England-based, queer, neurodivergent writer who envisions a world where our art helps up build the world in which we want to live. I'm married to my gorgeous, resourceful, and brilliant wife, Jasmine. Our cat, Julie, is the cutest little allergen you could possibly meet, and if you met her, you would probably agree!
And now, we are the proud parents of a beautiful toddler who is getting more independent by the minute! I love watching this kid grow!
You can find my books on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Weink, and Itch.
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