BOOK REVIEW: The Hate U give by Angie Thomas

Blurb:

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.

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping YA novel about one girl's struggle for justice

My Thoughts (SPOILER FREE)

I finished this title a few days ago but because the story had such an impact on me I needed a few days to gather my thoughts. 

Starr Carter, sixteen, daughter of a former convict, from a neighborhood plagued with poverty and criminal activity, witnesses for the second time in her young life a shooting of a friend (Khalil) this time at the hands of the police. Starr throughout the story has to overcome this, meanwhile having to struggle in silence as she attends a suburban prep school where the students live completely different lives to her. 

This story was necessary and one that had to be written. 

I am so glad that this book is as popular as it is because this tells of the daily struggle of many who belong to areas such as Garden Heights. I love how the story highlights many different themes. It speaks to community, how a community, survival, family and race relations. Because it took so many different perspectives it did not read as one sided which really stood out for me since most times stories like these are not very accommodating to different views.

Maverick (Starr's father) was a very important character in the book and I look forward to reading his story in Concrete Rose.

This is a must read for young and old. 

Very well written!!! Great book!!!