The Hate U Give - Book Review

Thomas, A. (2017). The hate u give. London: Walker Books

Starr Carter is a 16 year old African American girl living in two worlds, her school world which is rich, nice, and predominantly white, and her neighborhood which is poor and black.  Told from Starr’s point of view, the story begins with Starr at a party with a friend from her neighborhood, Garden Heights.  Starr runs into a childhood friend, Khalil, and the two briefly catch up with what is new in each other’s lives.  Based on Khalil’s new look and brand new Jordan shoes, Starr can only assume what he is doing to earn that kind of money and coming from their neighborhood.  Shoots are fired at the party and Khalil leads Starr safely out.  While the two of them are driving home, Starr’s worst nightmare begins.  Khalil is pulled over for a routine stop for his taillight being out, and the next thing Starr knows, she is witnessing her friend being shot three times and killed while unarmed by a police officer.  Khalil’s death goes viral, and as the only eye witness, Starr is caught in the middle of protesters and her life at school.  With police officers intimidating her and her family about what really happened that night, Starr must face difficult decisions on what to say about officer “1-15” and the details that lead to the death of her friend.  Frustrations rise in Starr as she sees how her race is depicted on media, as they describe Khalil as a “thug”, with efforts to convince others this shooting was justified.  Starr lives with her former gang-member father, mother, and her brother Seven who is very protective.  She deals with what seems like normal teenage girl life such as friendship struggles and having her first real boyfriend, but there are some deeper issues all around her.  For instance, her secret boyfriend is white, and she feels like she is disgracing Khalil just by being with Chris.  There are also issues on race, political activism, grief, interracial relationships, police brutality, and the media’s view and perception of African Americans.  Starr, of course is devastated to hear the grand jury will not indict the officer who killed her unarmed friend. 

I found myself very drawn to Starr and the character she is.  She is fierce and smart.  I had two moments in the novel that resonated with me.  One was the scene of the actual innocent of Khalil being shot.  I had to read that section of the story several times to process it and it was extremely emotional.  The other was when Starr realized for the first time that her boyfriend was white.  It had never really sunk in before the shooting that Chris was a white boy.  Was it in this moment Starr lost some innocence or is she beginning to wear racial glasses?  This is a powerful story that will give readers a deeper understanding of issues our world is dealing with.

To read more about this incredible author, click on this link below from “The Guardian”.  You will find an interview with Angie Thomas with a focus on her novel “The Hate U Give”.  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/26/angie-thomas-the-debut-novelist-who-turned-racism-and-police-violence-into-a-bestseller