The Hate U Give is an AMAZING book by Angie Thomas. Based around the very real and tragic death of Oscar Grant in 2009, the book follows a 16 year old girl by the name of Starr, who witnesses her best friend Khalil killed by police at a traffic stop. Throughout reading the novel you find out that Starr attends a ‘good school’ about 45m away from her home. One which her parents moved her to after her best friend was shot and killed in a drive by at the age of 11. So Starr is already suffering from a lot at a young age. Couple that with having her best friend literally die in her arms, and you immediately can empathize with this character.
Throughout the book you learn about the different ‘sides’ to the same city. What it’s like living in a ghetto where the ‘drug lord rules all, where violence is always the answer, where teenage pregnancy is the norm and death after 25 is a blessing’. Contrasted with what it’s like at school where everyone is white, rich, and otherwise privileged. I think one of the most heartbreaking scenes for me is when Starr invites friends over to her house for a slumber party. They beg to go home after a few hours because all the sirens and noise at night scares them. I interpreted this as her home life scares them, but she’s so numb to it!
As an educator, this book really opened my eyes to the life that some of my students could be living outside my classroom.
Now, on top of Starr having to decide to testify against police or not, you have other added elements to consider. 1) Her uncle is a police officer. 2) Her father is an ex drug lord. 3) Her friends are racist. Both her white and her black friends. 4) She has a white rich boyfriend (which causes strife within the family). 5) Other general teenage issues. The book also does a nice job of working in a non-traditional family dynamic as well. Starr has a half-brother through her father named Seven, who sometimes lives with them and sometimes lives with his mother. You also meet her current drug lord boyfriend, and his younger half sisters whom he’s essentially raising.
Starr comes forward and testifies. Against her own and her family’s safety. But, despite her best efforts, the judge rules in favour of the police officer anyway. At this announcement, all hell breaks lose. There’s rioting and violence galore, and Starr is just trying to survive it all with her family in tact. You see this not from the perspective of the adults or the news, but a scared young girl who got caught up in something bigger than herself.
Overall a powerful story. I think all educators should read this one! If you’ve got a diverse grade 8 class it’s certainly at their reading level. However, with the themes of death and violence I would suggest more of a pre-read by the teacher to decide if it fits with their classroom dynamics, or leaving it until high school to look at.
Overall 5/5 from me!
If you liked this book, check out some of my other reviews on my blog including my series on Black Authors! Or reach out on Facebook and Instagram to shoot me a message!