The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

When I finished this book in early May, I didn’t realize how timely and poignant it would be. I didn’t know much about the subject matter, only that the book was well-received by several magazines and reading lists I occasionally use. This book had a powerful voice and a message that screams for justice. With every page, the voice inside you saying “this isn’t right” gets louder and louder until, at the end, you’re shouting along with the protesters in Garden Heights.  

Point of View: The Hate U Give uses Starr, a teenage narrator, to tell a powerful story and address subject matter that is difficult to read and process. I loved when this same perspective was used in Room by Emma Donoghue and enjoyed it as well in Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I think that this point of view offers empathy and the genuine challenges in processing very dark subject matter in equal measure. In Room, we are faced with rape and kidnapping, and in the others we are processing death. This narration shows how hard it can be to grapple with horrible events that just shouldn’t have happened.

Relevance: I didn’t know when I picked this book that George Floyd would be murdered a few weeks later or that international protests for Black Lives Matter cry out against police brutality and systemic injustice. The unfortunate reality is this book shares a story that we see far too much of and the implications it has on children, families, and entire communities. I think about Chris, Starr’s white boyfriend, and how he struggled to understand and be an ally. He asked questions, listened, and grew.

I also keep coming back to “The truth casts a shadow over the kitchen—people like us in situations like this become hashtags, but they rarely get justice. I think we all wait for that one time though, that one time when it ends right. Maybe this can be it.” When I see brands, influencers, and allies (myself included) struggle on social media and in life to be authentic and helpful, this passage reminds us that we’ve been here before, and for real change we need to go beyond a solidarity post on Instagram and dig deeper into the uncomfortable.

Fiction or Nonfiction: Huge segments of this book remind me of Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming. I think about how Starr feels as though she has to be two people, changing her language and vocabulary, clothes, and personality to fit the audience she’s around. It is an exhausting endeavor that white people like myself simply cannot understand.

I wasn’t ready for this book; I thought I was picking a light summer read, but this is a book we should all be reading right now. This is the perspective we need more of, and we should take our feelings about this story and in this moment and propel ourselves to be part of the solution.