The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas

You hear about it in the news, it might have happened to someone you know, or it might have happened to a community near you. You never think that it would happen to you. Starr has heard about innocent black people being killed by the police, but she never thought she would be a witness to it. After violence erupts at a party she leaves with a friend, Khalil. When a cop, white, pulls them over on the way home, he immediately asks Khalil to get of the car though they have done nothing wrong. When Khalil turns around to check on Starr he gets shot in the back multiple times. Starr gets out of the car to check on Khalil and finds a gun pointed in her face.

Starr is a part of two different worlds. Her world at school is where she is one of a few black people in her class, and then her world at home where there are no white people. She’s not even sure if she can trust her uncle, a man who had practically raised her, because he is a cop. She feels like she cannot talk to her friends and boyfriend about what happened because they are white, and have never understood where she comes from. The only people she has to depend on is her family.

This book blew my mind! I absolutely loved every moment of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I actually had to put it down after reading the first chapter, and could only read it a chapter at a time for a little bit. I also started reading it after the verdict came out on the murder of Philando Castille, and so my emotions were very raw. Thomas does an amazing job of showing the life of someone who has to stand up for what is right even when she knows justice is not on her side. She brings in the topics of being Black in America, but also so much more. A lot of Starr’s story touched me personally. I have never had one of my friends killed by the police and had to stand up for them, but in other ways I understand Starr. I’m also in an interracial relationship and sometimes it is hard to explain black America vs. white America, but it’s a conversation that has to happen. I also lived far away from the private school that I went to, on the west side of town, where parents did not like to send their kids to hang out. The emotions that Thomas brought out in this book were real, and it brings up so many discussions. Like how can non- people of color help people of color in times like these. I’m so mind blown by this book that I would recommend it to anyone who asked. Until next time

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