The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Reviewed by:  Alexandra Schenk, Student Intern

Genre: Young Adult Fiction

Suggested Age:  Teens, Adults

What is this Book About?  The Hate U Give tells the story of sixteen year old Star Carter. Star lives her life torn between two worlds.  One world includes her poor, predominantly African American neighborhood and another is her fancy, nearly all white school. One world contains her family and her childhood friends and the other world contains her boyfriend and her school friends. In one world she is just Maverick’s little daughter and in the other world she is cool “by default” because she is black. It is tough, but Star balances her lives and she is happy until her childhood best friend, Khalil, is shot by a police officer. Star’s two perfectly separated worlds collide with each other and she has to make some difficult choices. Because she is the sole witness, only she can tell the world what really happened that night. But can she speak up if every word she says endangers her family?

My Review:  This book left me with a funny, fuzzy warm feeling. I always get that feeling after finishing really good books and The Hate U Give was definitely one of these books! Angie Thomas manages to describe Star’s emotions extremely well, I really felt the fear, the anger, and the sadness of a sixteen year old girl. But not only are the characters brilliant, Thomas also manages to place important messages in the story. One of my favorite quotes was, “What’s the point of having a voice if you gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be?” These messages in combination with the amazing characters and the timeliness of the story left me with just one possible conclusion: This is a brilliant book! It was a joy to read The Hate U Give and I can recommend it to young readers as well as adults.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Powerful, Inspiring, Frightening

Give it a Try if You Like: Books which give you goose bumps

Rating: 5/5

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About FDL Reads

FDL Reads is a series of weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library.

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