Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Title: The Hate U Give
Author:Angie Thomas
Publisher: Balzer & Bray/Harperteen
Publication Date: February 28, 2017
Edition: Hardcover (444 pages)
Categories:

• Fiction
• Contemporary
• Young Adult

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Starr Carter is a sixteen-year-old caught between two worlds--the neighborhood she lives in and the world of the prep school she attends. These worlds are miles apart in distance and socioeconomic climates. While attending a party in her neighborhood, gang violence erupts, and she leaves the party with her childhood playmate and friend whom she has not seen much of in recent years. As they are driving to Starr's home, they are pulled over by a police officer and Starr's friend is shot and killed. And this is not the first death Starr has witnessed. She has to cope with the trauma and the truth of what she has seen as well as a justice system she regards as questionable. As a teenager who is African American, she is well aware of racism and what the color of her skin means to many people, and the different standards often applied, as a result.

The subject matter and the circumstances brought to life in this book are agonizingly real. But I love this book because it goes behind the headlines to get at the heart of the matter of culture, racism, injustice and poverty in a way that gives the reader an understanding of how and why this has come about.

I knew, when I read the description of THE HATE YOU GIVE, I would cry my way through this book. And I did. It spoke to my heart on so many levels. If only everyone would read it, perhaps we could find more love and compassion for one another, and stop responding to those who are not exactly like us in ways that seek common ground to unite and not divide us. I truly hope this book earns some awards. In my opinion it is a great contemporary work, and I will never be the same after reading it.