The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas – 464 pages
Book Blurb:
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.
My Review: 4.5 stars
The Hate U Give is deservedly on many ‘must read’ lists due to the provocative issues of race and discrimination brought to the surface. This book is timely and relevant. It’s told from the POV of a black teenage girl that is torn apart after intimately witnessing a white police officer shoot a dear friend.
This book is about so much more than the shooting; it’s also about navigating your teenage years in a black neighborhood, while attending a white private school. It’s about having to talk ‘ghetto’ or not, depending on you’re with. It’s about the fear of talking and vocalizing your truth. It’s about putting your family in danger. It’s about gangs and drugs that rule neighborhoods. It’s about racism. It’s about riots and destruction and why that happens. It’s about what makes a family.
Reviews on this book have been mostly 5 stars and the few that give it 3 stars or under are being unabashedly chastised for their opinions. That my friends is why many reviewers with a large following either avoid race related books or just comment with what the public wants to hear. I find it ironic that this is exactly what the book is about, the fear of speaking your truth so that you are unfairly judged, juried and hung.
The writing was completely fine and there were a few parts that seemed slightly unrealistic but none of that was of consequence. It’s the subject matter that drove this book to its incredible popularity. I believe this book is one that should be read en masse, because there are so many meaningful takeaways from it.
Quotes I liked:
Intentions always look better on paper than in reality.”
– “Brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared. It means you go on even though you’re scared.”
– “Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.”
-“What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be?”
-“It’s dope to be black until it’s hard to be black.”
-“At an early age I learned that people make mistakes, and you have to decide if their mistakes are bigger than your love for them.”
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