Angie Thomas (1) (1988–)

A powerful young adult book that has never been more relevant. Starr Carter too black for her white school and too white for her black neighborhood. She's constantly in the middle, afraid to let be too this or too that in front of certain people. That all begins to change one day when she and her friend are leaving a party and get pulled over. What happens next will haunt Starr forever, the white cop shoots her friend dead AND GETS AWAY WITH IT. Obviously this kind of injustice is in the show more media a lot which makes this book more timely then ever. Words can't describe how much I love this book and it's empowering message. Starr starts to find her voice not only to the media, but to her friends, family, white boyfriend, and classmates. This should be required reading. It's timely, impossible to put down (I read the book from cover to cover yesterday morning), and gives the disenfranchised youth a voice. Beautiful, haunting, and riveting. show less

Phenomenal. Hard to believe it's Thomas's first novel. The teen voices are authentic. It draws attention to young, unarmed black men being killed by police because the officer claims to have been afraid for his/her life. It's about speaking up when you don't want to. It's about bridging the racial divide and, despite good intentions, how difficult that can be. It's about knowing who your true friends and family are. It's about seeing the world through someone else's eyes. I highly recommend show more it to teens and adults. Brava, Angie Thomas. show less

The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody.
The name of the book comes from this acronym that originates from Tupac, and serves as a central theme to the book. This book is immensely important and would recommend to almost all teen readers. Some might take offense in the language ('fuck' does appear quite frequently), and Blue-Lives-Matter-supporters might take offense to the portrayal and treatment of police officers throughout the story. However, Thomas' book does what great teen books show more are supposed to do: reflect an ill in our society that is not being sufficiently addressed, and serve as representation for those that suffer from that ill. These kind of books will of course anger some, but that's what makes them so important.
Dialogue in this book is fantastic. There are, of course, times where it doesn't hold up to my lofty true-to-life standards, but compared to most books, especially those as dialogue-heavy as this one, THUG is in a class of its' own.
Loved how the author developed the relationship between the main character, Starr, and her best friend, Hailey. Hailey does not play an overly prominent role in the book, but she does symbolize what could be described as the average American. Starr's change in approach to this "average American" is beautifully composed, especially in the last 15 pages, and Hailey refuses or is unable to see the changes and the relationship between black and white is forever damaged. show less

Starr Carter witnesses a police shooting when her friend, Khalil, is stopped for a tail light that's out and is subsequently shot in front of her. Because she's underage, she's an anonymous witness, and she has to decide whether to keep silent or speak out about injustice.

So many thoughts and emotions are swirling in my mind as I attempt to process my reaction to this book. It is powerful, allowing Starr to narrate and speak to the reader about her family, her school, her friends, her life. show more It's as coherent an argument I've ever read for changing our society and fighting against racism. And it doesn't treat any of these issues lightly or less complexly than they deserve - her family, for example, struggles with whether they should stay in a neighborhood with gang activity to improve it, or move to the suburbs where the schools would be better and the streets safer. It is a hard read, but it also has moments of joy and hope, especially surrounding Starr's family and the people who love her. I cannot recommend this highly enough to teens and adults alike. Want to understand why people are rioting right now? Read this. show less