The Hate U Give
Angie Thomas
Julia - Grade 11
4/5
Starr Carter, a sixteen year old black girl, is forced to attend a neighborhood party at Garden Heights. Despite being born and raised in Garden Heights which mainly has black residents, Starr feels disconnected from her friends there ever since attending William Prep, a school consisting primarily of white students. During the party, Starr reunites with her childhood friend Khalil Harris. However, the party ends abruptly after gunshots from a nearby gang fight erupt. Khalil offers to take Starr home, but on their way back they are pulled over by a police officer. Khalil questions the reason as to why they were pulled over, but the officer refuses to answer which causes an argument. The officer orders Khalil out of the car to search him. Despite being told to stay still, Khalil returns to the car to check on Starr. To Starr's horror, she witnesses her friend being fatally shot by the officer. Soon after the incident, Khalil's death became a national news headline with the media portraying Khalil as a drug dealer. While some believe that the officer's actions were justified, others started protesting for justice to Khalil. Starr, being the only living witness, is given the difficult choice of recounting what happened that night which could ensue chaos to her community and possibly endanger her life. The novel is able to tackle the issues of police brutality and racialized violence using different perspectives. I would strongly recommend this to young teens and adults.