The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Image courtesy of Titlewave.com

The Hate U Give 

by Angie Thomas

I laughed, I cried, I sang out loud, I didn't twerk, but at times I wanted to!  I experienced such a wide range of emotions while reading The Hate U Give that I felt I was on a roller coaster!

Starr is a 16 year old teenager living in what some might call "the ghetto."  When she was ten, her best friend was killed in a drive-by.  After that, her parents sent her, and her brothers, to a private school 45 minutes away.

In the vein of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Starr has to navigate between her two worlds.  When in her neighborhood of Garden Heights, she can't be seen as being too "white" or too "good" for her friends.  When at Williamson, her school, she can't be seen as being too "hood"; she always uses complete sentences and says "yes ma'am and no ma'am."

But when tragedy hits again, Starr finds her worlds colliding and tries desperately to keep these worlds from falling apart.

The Hate U Give is a Tupac Shakur reference and is a theme throughout the story.  This book is such a passionate, real look at family, race, police relations, coming of age, gangs, community and so many more topics that I could go on forever.  I think this book will appeal to anyone over the age of 12, black, white or purple.  The violence, realistically portrayed, might not be suitable for some middle school students, although I think they would appreciate the story.

In light of current affairs and the charged political climate around police shootings of people of color, I feel this book should be required reading for all educators and most high school students.  The Hate U Give has made an impression on my heart that will not soon go away.  Thank you Angie Thomas for this gift!

As an addendum to this post - I MET ANGIE THOMAS!!!!!  Here is our picture!