Literature & Fiction
![Angie Thomas - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B01LXYCVWA.jpg)
The Hate U Give
8 starred reviews · Goodreads Choice Awards Best of the Best · William C. Morris Award Winner · National Book Award Longlist · Printz Honor Book · Coretta Scott King Honor Book · #1 New York Times Bestseller!
"Absolutely riveting!" -Jason Reynolds
"Stunning." -John Green
"This story is necessary. This story is important." -Kirkus (starred review)
"Heartbreakingly topical." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A marvel of verisimilitude." -Booklist (starred review)
"A powerful, in-your-face novel." -Horn Book (starred review)
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does-or does not-say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
Want more of Garden Heights? Catch Maverick and Seven's story in Concrete Rose, Angie Thomas's powerful prequel to The Hate U Give.
"Absolutely riveting!" -Jason Reynolds
"Stunning." -John Green
"This story is necessary. This story is important." -Kirkus (starred review)
"Heartbreakingly topical." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A marvel of verisimilitude." -Booklist (starred review)
"A powerful, in-your-face novel." -Horn Book (starred review)
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does-or does not-say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
Want more of Garden Heights? Catch Maverick and Seven's story in Concrete Rose, Angie Thomas's powerful prequel to The Hate U Give.
Editorial Reviews
"As we continue to fight the battle against police brutality and systemic racism in America, THE HATE U GIVE serves as a much needed literary ramrod. Absolutely riveting!" -- Jason Reynolds, bestselling coauthor of ALL AMERICAN BOYS
"Angie Thomas has written a stunning, brilliant, gut-wrenching novel that will be remembered as a classic of our time." -- John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars
"Fearlessly honest and heartbreakingly human. Everyone should read this book." -- Becky Albertalli, William C. Morris Award-winning author of SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA
"This is tragically timely, hard-hitting, and an ultimate prayer for change. Don't look away from this searing battle for justice. Rally with Starr." -- Adam Silvera, New York Times bestselling author of MORE HAPPY THAN NOT
"With smooth but powerful prose delivered in Starr's natural, emphatic voice, finely nuanced characters, and intricate and realistic relationship dynamics, this novel will have readers rooting for Starr and opening their hearts to her friends and family. This story is necessary. This story is important." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Though Thomas's story is heartbreakingly topical, its greatest strength is in its authentic depiction of a teenage girl, her loving family, and her attempts to reconcile what she knows to be true about their lives with the way those lives are depicted-and completely undervalued-by society at large." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Beautifully written in Starr's authentic first-person voice, this is a marvel of verisimilitude as it insightfully examines two worlds in collision. An inarguably important book that demands the widest possible readership." -- Booklist (starred review)
"Pair this powerful debut with Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely's ALL AMERICAN BOYS to start a conversation on racism, police brutality, and the Black Lives Matter movement." -- School Library Journal (starred review)
"The Hate U Give is an important and timely novel that reflects the world today's teens inhabit. Starr's struggles create a complex character, and Thomas boldly tackles topics like racism, gangs, police violence, and interracial dating. This topical, necessary story is highly recommended for all libraries." -- Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (starred review)
"Thomas has penned a powerful, in-your-face novel that will similarly galvanize fans of Kekla Magoon's How It Went Down and Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely's All American Boys." -- Horn Book (starred review)
"Angie Thomas has written a stunning, brilliant, gut-wrenching novel that will be remembered as a classic of our time." -- John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars
"Fearlessly honest and heartbreakingly human. Everyone should read this book." -- Becky Albertalli, William C. Morris Award-winning author of SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA
"This is tragically timely, hard-hitting, and an ultimate prayer for change. Don't look away from this searing battle for justice. Rally with Starr." -- Adam Silvera, New York Times bestselling author of MORE HAPPY THAN NOT
"With smooth but powerful prose delivered in Starr's natural, emphatic voice, finely nuanced characters, and intricate and realistic relationship dynamics, this novel will have readers rooting for Starr and opening their hearts to her friends and family. This story is necessary. This story is important." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Though Thomas's story is heartbreakingly topical, its greatest strength is in its authentic depiction of a teenage girl, her loving family, and her attempts to reconcile what she knows to be true about their lives with the way those lives are depicted-and completely undervalued-by society at large." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Beautifully written in Starr's authentic first-person voice, this is a marvel of verisimilitude as it insightfully examines two worlds in collision. An inarguably important book that demands the widest possible readership." -- Booklist (starred review)
"Pair this powerful debut with Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely's ALL AMERICAN BOYS to start a conversation on racism, police brutality, and the Black Lives Matter movement." -- School Library Journal (starred review)
"The Hate U Give is an important and timely novel that reflects the world today's teens inhabit. Starr's struggles create a complex character, and Thomas boldly tackles topics like racism, gangs, police violence, and interracial dating. This topical, necessary story is highly recommended for all libraries." -- Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (starred review)
"Thomas has penned a powerful, in-your-face novel that will similarly galvanize fans of Kekla Magoon's How It Went Down and Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely's All American Boys." -- Horn Book (starred review)
Readers Top Reviews
DodgilyArtfulYasm
There are some important and powerful moments here, like teaching African American children how to behave in front of the police and having them recite parts of the Black Panthers' Ten-Point Plan. Valuable, real, shocking, warm. But there's also a lot of hand-wringing over what to wear to prom and the best way to respond to a Tumblr post. I know I'm not the target audience, but I still want to believe that you shouldn't have to try so hard to reach them. Still there's much to praise here, even if Starr's parents send her straight back to school the day after witnessing a murder when she is clearly exhibiting symptoms of PTSD. I just wish the author had trusted that her teen readers don't need things hammered home with soap-opera tropes in order to get the point.
Amy ElizabethDodg
If you read just one book this year, please make it this one; I know I’m not the first to rave about it but believe the hype, it’s all true. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, The Hate U Give follows the story of sixteen-year-old Starr and what happens when she becomes the only witness to the fatal shooting of a friend at the hands of a police officer. As she finds herself at the middle of a media circus, trying to balance her life becomes more and more difficult as she seeks justice for Khalil whilst trying to maintain her own safety, and that of her family. It’s not just the timeliness and poignancy of the story, but the characters which make this book so incredibly readable and wonderful. In the first instance, Starr is just someone you want to be friends with, and there is a real focus on her family, who are all fantastic characters in their own right, as well as being amazing in their supporting roles. Everyone in the book felt fleshed out and important, from her ex-drug-dealer father to her Asian best friend, and they all had their own storylines that ultimately fed into the wider plot. Basically, this is some complex writing that will still have you tearing through it to find out what happens – which is a surprisingly rare thing to find. I teared up on more than one occasion; anyone who has followed #BlackLivesMatter will recognise just how *real* this story is, which makes it all the more heartbreaking, but I also felt like it left room for hope, too.
Miss K. SouthernA
Boy, this book is front carriage of the hype train! Having spent week after week on the New York Times Bestsellers list and being covered by 99% of the blogosphere, I've seen it EVERYWHERE. It made me desperate to read it, but also nervous that my expectations were being built to such great heights. I always feel that books receiving such hype tend to disappoint most of the time, and I found that a tiny bit here. I wasn't totally blown away as I expected. That being said, this was an amazing read on a topic that really needs far more coverage than it gets and is very fresh in today's political climate. Thomas writes SO well. I felt that I was reading from the perspective of a teenager, and while it was hard to get my head around some of the common slang found in black culture and the common 'tropes' it was an interesting insight into how gang warfare has come about, and the true injustices that PoCs face. The truth about white privilege and ignorance was hard to read of course. But it needs to be in order for change to happen. I loved the feeling of family that this book highlighted, not just in Starr's home, but in the whole community. Te relationship between Starr's mother and father was a joy to read. The idea of two worlds that Starr lives in is really clever too and seeing the personality changes and her awareness of that was both sad and eye-opening. As I said, this book didn't totally bowl me over. Some of the humour was good but some of it a little cheesy, and I feel like Thomas took a lot of racial frustrations out on EVERY white character, including Chris who was pretty much reduced to 'Am I allowed to say this? I can say that too? Please feel free to mock me how you like but do tell me if I'm overstepping any lines.' It was interesting to recognise ignorance within the white characters though and realise that I have seen friends or have done some of those things myself. Books like this will open minds and start discussions and for me this is what I want from a book.
Thomas PowisJoann
My grand daughter and I have a book club together. She mentioned hearing about this book and thought it would be one we could read. I bought the book to check it out. I read the 1st line and thought "OH MY" but gave it a chance. I read the next three pages and threw the book down. If I believed in book burning I would burn book. People want to rewrite some of the classics because of the "N" word in them, but the words and situations and stereo types in this book are far worst. It degrades people and sends out a bad message to our young people of today...Where is the HOPE>
