The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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Thomas, Angie. The Hate U Give. Balzer + Bray. 2017. 464 pages. $12.39, ISBN: 978-0062498533. Genre: Realistic Fiction
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Summary: There are two Starr Carters.  One who lives with her family and her friends in the poor neighborhood she grew up in, and the other who goes to a fancy prep school and dates a white boy.  When her childhood friend is shot by police in front of her, Starr’s worlds can’t help but collide.  When she decides to make her witness statement and speak the truth about what happened that night, she realizes that people judge situations that they don’t understand and sometimes the truth doesn’t mean enough.  What does matter is that people continue to fight against injustice and rise above.
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Reading Level/Interest Level: YHS/YHS, OHS
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Evaluation: This book was a beautifully written way for anyone to learn about a real issue that is taking place across the country.  Starr’s life straddles the balance of poverty vs. wealth, crime vs. labor, and even white vs. black.  As a white woman, I cannot personally relate to many of the things that she has gone through and will continue to go through in her life.  But this book (which I listened to through Audible.com), spells out a life and a family that feel so real that it’s like you’re there.  Starr’s hurts became my hurts and I was able to look at a situation that I see on the news everyday and just write off as just another police shooting, and see the true injustice and the horrible inequality that is running rampant in our world.  I would recommend this book to anyone who asked if they want a book about today’s world.
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Annotation: Starr Carter’s life spans two worlds.  After the death of an old friend, will she ever be able to fully live in either?
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Bibliotherapeutic Usefulness: The police brutality and lifestyles that are written about in this book show experiences that we’ve all heard about or seen or experienced ourselves.  As such, this book would be a good recommendation for anyone trying to make sense of police shootings, racism, or injustice.
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Issues Present: Police Brutality, Drug Use, Explicit Language, Criminal Activity
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Defenses: In today’s America, the issues discussed in this book can be viewed daily on the news.  The drug use and criminal activity described in the book are used to explain the world that Starr sees in her everyday life.  Her father was in jail and his experiences there changed his life for the better.  To truly show the difference in his life, Thomas needed to show King and his fellow gang members.  It also went to show the assumptions that are made about people who live in poorer areas of America.  Khalil was assumed to be a gang member who sold drugs and as such, people wrote off his shooting as having been deserved, when in reality, he had done nothing warranted of being shot.
Another issue brought up to challenge this book is the explicit language. While many could say that it goes too far for a YA book, the language used illustrates mostly high stress instances and issues.  It is important to note that when Starr’s father swears at home, he has to put a dollar in the swear jar.  Thomas does not condone explicit language, but she uses it to show what life actually looks like for some people.
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Booktalk Ideas: Starr points out in the book how she speaks and acts differently at school or at home.  For the book talk, I’d like to see how many of my teens can relate to that.  Discuss how they talk to their grandparent in comparison to how they talk to their friends, etc.  Also to see how many of them could relate to the duality of Starr’s life.
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Genre: Realistic Fiction
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Readalikes: All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon, and Dear Martin by Nic Stone
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Author’s website: http://angiethomas.com
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Awards:
Odyssey Award (2018), Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction (2017), Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fiction & Debut Goodreads Author (2017), Carnegie Medal Nominee (2018), NAACP Image Award Nominee for Youth/Teens (2018), Michael L. Printz Honor Award (2018).
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Reviews:
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Why I Chose It: I chose to read The Hate U Give because the subject matter tells a story about a lifestyle I will never be able to relate to.  The little that I knew about the book was from the trailer for the movie that will be coming out in October.  Starr’s life straddles two worlds, neither that she can fully be in.  The privilege of my life makes both of her worlds alien and I wanted to better understand the lifestyles that many of my fellow Americans live in.
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