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The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


You've heard that Black Lives Matter. Let Angie Thomas show you why that's more than a slogan.

Content notes: racism, police violence, murder, death, riots, house fire.

Starr lives between two worlds: she lives in a largely black neighbourhood, but goes to a largely white school in the suburbs. When one of her closest friends is shot dead in front of her by a cop, her grief and shock is complicated by the expectations both communities have, as well as the legal process of being a witness.

I'm sure there's a lot I'm missing as a white reader, which puts me in the same place as Starr's white boyfriend from school, Chris. Like most people at school, he thinks of Starr's neighbourhood as a different world, and believes the cops implicitly. As the lawyers discuss whether anyone should even be charged for Khalil's murder, and Starr begins to understand her own anger and how to use it, Chris begins to understand how little black lives matter to the authorities.

I loved this book, and I didn't want to finish because I'm going to miss the characters!



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