The Hate U Give—Angie Thomas
Starr, a teenage black girl living in two very different worlds, finds her life shattered in an instant when a cop kills her best friend right in front of her. What follows is a striking account of Starr’s journey through racial profiling, abuse of authority, and injustice, and what Starr decides to do about it.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is as relevant today as the day it was published. The massive pushback against police brutality and racial bias in the wake of George Floyd’s murder happened just a few weeks before I read it. Thomas’s scenes of rioting and neighborhood destruction seem like they could have happened yesterday. And that’s not because Thomas’s book is prophetic. It’s because these things have been happening and keep happening, yet nothing has changed.
This book is not a “black versus white” or a “citizens versus cops” novel. Thomas fairly represents the potential variables on each side of this equation. There are good and bad police officers of all races. There’s a white character who becomes increasingly vocal in her bigotry. There’s another who isn’t racist but begins to understand his inherent privilege. Yet another character comes to accept that not all white people are corrupt, though the system itself is.
It’s billed as a young adult novel, but everyone should read The Hate U Give. To the teens, especially middle-class white kids: read this book. It will teach you (or at least remind you) that there are other kids out there who don’t have the life you have. To parents, especially middle-class white folks: read this book, preferably alongside your kids. Remember the people out there who don’t have what you have. The law is not on their side; they must fight to have what you were born into. I hope this book reminds us all.
Check out The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas on Amazon. The Collector’s Edition has cool bonus features and an excerpt from Thomas’s upcoming novel.
Until next time,
Jenna
Jenna Justice is a fiction editor and proofreader for independent authors. She specializes in speculative genres, including fantasy and sci-fi, for adult, middle-grade, and young adult readers. She is a proud member of ACES: The Society for Editing.
Visit Jenna’s website at Justice Serves Proofreading, and say hi on Twitter at @justice_proofs.