The Hate U Give

Genre: Fiction

This is the story (pulled from the latest headlines) of Starr, a high school student, daughter of an ex-con and a nurse, and sister to two brothers. Starr and her family live in a poor neighborhood with all the expected trappings of drugs, theft and gangs. Starr and her siblings attend a private school where they are part of a handful of kids who are also African-American. One evening, Starr meets her childhood friend, Khalil, at a party. They leave early because of a shooting and are later pulled over by a police officer, for no apparent reason. Khalil is killed by the police officer and Starr has to learn to deal with the devastation of her loss, learn to navigate the court system and to find her voice in the tornado effect that surrounds every aspect of her life.

This is billed as a young adult novel. What I loved about this book is that through story telling the drug dealers, the thugs and the gang members are given a real voice. We learn who they are and what causes their actions. Sometimes, it’s a story of loss and needing to find their way, and other times it’s just about greed. Good or bad, they are human.

What I didn’t love about this book is that it often felt as though I was reading the journal entries of a young girl who wrote into her story all her wishes come true: a poor African-American girl who goes to private school, the poor family who makes it out of the slums, the racist friends who change their minds. It didn’t feel realistic and the characters need more development. The language is pretty explicit so I’m not sure if I would be comfortable with anyone younger than 16 reading this. I read an interview by Thomas who said she was so enraged by all she saw in the news that writing this book gave an outlet to her frustration, which I applaud. The name of the book, by the way, is an acronym for THUG, which comes from a Tupac Shakur (a murdered notorious rapper) song. This story, nonetheless, gives hope to a situation that often feels hopeless and it’s a story that, unfortunately, many kids can relate to.