Teen Book Review: The Hate U Give

Starr Carter,  a sixteen-year-old Black teenager lives in two worlds: an impoverished neighborhood that she resides in and a top-notch prep school she attends. When she witnesses the fatal shooting of her best friend Khalil, her life turns upside down.  Later, Khalil’s death is all people can talk about. Some call him a thug, drug dealer, and gangster. Others say, “he may have had it coming”. As the community realizes that the police aren’t investigating his death, streets are flooded with riots and Starr’s neighborhood becomes a war zone. What the communities want to know is what really happened to Khalil. The only person who has the answers to all these questions is Starr. Will Starr help bring justice to Khalil and be the healer for her community? Will revealing what she knows jeopardize her life?

Reading The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas was a different experience from what I often read and I am glad I read it. It educated me about the ongoing issues of racial bias from police that often leads to prejudice against minorities. I definitely learned a lot about the bitter relationship between the police and the Black community as well as connecting these issues to the real world. I liked how Angie Thomas put the book in the perspective of Starr as her character didn’t understand the complexities of her community and was forced to grow up after facing such a horrific altercation. I would rate this a 4/5 stars and would recommend this book to people 16+. This novel won the Goodreads Choice Awards Best of the Best, Goodreads Choice Awards Best Young Adult Fiction, Goodreads Choice Awards Best Debut Goodreads Author, and the Audie Awards for Best Female Narrator. Be sure to check it out!

~Aarushi