The Hate U Give

By: Angie Thomas

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

Eight starred reviews ∙ William C. Morris Award Winner ∙ National Book Award Longlist ∙ Printz Honor Book ∙ Coretta Scott King Honor Book ∙ Number-One New York Times Best Seller!

"Absolutely riveting!" (Jason Reynolds)

"Stunning." (John Green)

"This story is necessary. This story is important." (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

"Heartbreakingly topical." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

"A marvel of verisimilitude." (Booklist, starred review)

"A powerful, in-your-face novel." (The 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.

And don't miss On the Come Up, Angie Thomas's powerful follow-up to The Hate U Give.

©2017 Angela Thomas (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"[Narrator Bahni] Turpin's portrayals of all the characters are rich and deep, environments are evocatively described, and Starr's fraught struggles to understand life's complexities are believable." (AudioFile)

A remarkable debut talent that opens out & blooms

Thomas does a good job raising a number of the issues people talk about when we talk about race. This debut YA novel reflects the mindset and confusion of a sixteen-year-old African American girl, Starr, who witnesses up-close-and-personal a police shooting one of her childhood friends, Khalil. Starr lives in a black neighborhood, Garden Heights, but attends a private mostly-white high school an hour away from her home. Her relationship with her white schoolmates becomes a feature of the story.

The clever way Thomas sets up her character list allows us to experience Starr’s own disappointment and dislocation when Khalil is described as a drug dealer gang member to make the cop look less guilty in the eyes of the community. Thomas is especially good at describing a case that is not so completely clear that we can do without the officer’s testimony, but it soon emerges that his explanation, that he thought he was in danger, may have been because he saw a[n unarmed] black man and was afraid.

The YA nature of the material is useful to Thomas’ purpose because young people are not as close-lipped and cautious as adults and haven’t completely formed their worldview. Starr is still learning how the world works and she can be a little naïve and verbalize her learning experiences, and talk them over with her family and friends. We hear the things she is thinking, the things that bother her, the things she ultimately believes.

We can hear her discuss in an utterly realistic way one’s first impressions when confronted with her father’s own prison time, Khalil’s drug sales, Devante’s consideration of gang membership. Extenuating circumstances in each of these situations completely change our view of events and make readers realize how important perspective is when considering lifestyle and crime. Starr’s mother wants to leave the neighborhood for the suburbs to escape the drama and death of Garden Heights but Starr’s father refuses. This particular argument I have been waiting years to hear reasonably articulated, and Thomas does it well.

A new film, Get Out , was just released this month, directed by Jason Peele, a comedian who made his name as one of the Comedy Central duo Key & Peele. The work of these two bi-racial comedians focuses on how white folks are perceived by black folks, and black culture. Their work is funny, not mean, and meant to educate through humor. Thomas does something similar, with Starr articulating those micro aggressions she sustained at school, and with the police…but she is also able to articulate the assumptions, jealousy, and misunderstanding of Starr’s black friends about her opportunities outside of the neighborhood. This is all very well done: pointed but inoffensive.

Thomas says “I want to write the way Tupac Shakur raps”, her title coming from one of Tupac’s torso tattoos. She manages to include an enormous amount of nuance and expression into this novel without making it seem overdone. She throws a lot at us in a short time, giving our emotions a workout. She’d give TV writer and producer Shonda Rhimes a run for her money. Thomas’ characters are realistic if not completely developed, certainly not mere stereotypes. Thomas is helped her portrayals by an extremely talented narrator for the audiobook, Bahni Turpin, whose proficiency with voices and accents goes far beyond the ordinary. The audiobook is an excellent choice for this material, produced by HarperAudio.

I am not a fan of the more talky aspects of YA novels, and I was horrified with the school fight Starr was involved in, and Seven’s tendency to think first of throwing his black body physically against the forces that subjugate him, whether they be a gang leader or a white cop. This is definitely not in my experience and I’m not sad about that. Unfortunately I suspect it was an accurate depiction of how things get resolved in Garden Heights, though Starr's fight happened in the private school. This can’t be a useful habit to carry forward, but these incidents were not adequately editorialized in the novel.

I will, however, admit to being completely impressed with the skill with which Thomas composed her story. She packed in a great deal of human experience on both sides of the color divide and helps readers come to terms with a very difficult and important topic: police intimidation, excessive force, and shootings of unarmed black males. At the same time, she invites us to look at her life, the culture in the neighborhood, and the thought processes of folks who make choices different from white folks in the suburbs.

With literature like this, we get clues to how we can get to know each other better, considering the historic segregation of schools and neighborhoods. Racism, conscious or unconscious, is no longer acceptable to the majority of Americans. It should have ended long ago—by law it had, in practice it has not. Everyone who hasn’t studied up on what this means, can use books like these to make inroads into a greater awareness. Study up. Society is moving ahead. Many artists of color are going out of their way to light the road and explain these issues clearly from their point of view.

The book has been optioned for a film, purportedly with “The Hunger Games” actress Amandla Stenberg to star.

Outstanding!

This book was so well read - the performance was excellent. It saddens me that people are forced to live like that. Forced to do things they know are wrong.
Lastly, the family dynamics are awesome!!
Please write more books!!!

Wow. Just wow.

I'm an 8th grade Language Arts teacher at a high poverty school. After my class read, analyzed and discussed To Kill a Mockingbird, one of my students brought this book to me, commenting on the deep racial injustices that connect the two novels. (Proud teacher moment-- she is of course absolutely right). The Hate U Give is powerful, important, infuriating and hopeful. The performance is brilliant. I highly recommend this book to everyone. Everyone.

This is important.

Not many novels have this much power to change things. It's real, and it's whole.

I Have Never Enjoyed A Performance So Much!

I enjoyed this story and loved the characters, especially, Maverick, Mama, and Nana. The story made me snicker a few time but brought tears to my eyes any number of times. I loved the way the author brought the family to life and delved into the complications that surround blended families and in-laws. The narrator took this story to another level. She captured the characters so thoroughly that I could visualize each of them. I have never enjoyed a performance so thoroughly. Thank you!

Great Story to showcase the true struggle of black

lives....

loved the story, the view point of the young girl and the scenes... just didn't like the amount of curse words in it! the language could have been a little more clean. I know the language gives it the authenticity... it started well and towards the end it was too much. a curse word was accommodating almost every response the characters said. Anyway, that's the only reason I gave it 4 stars. other than that, it's a story that had to be told!

EVERYTHING!!!

THE WRITER , NARRATOR, AND DIRECTOR ARE EXTRAORDINARY. I THOUGHT I WAS WATCHING THIS IN REAL TIME. I DID NOT WANT IT TO END. THANK YOU FOR A WONDERFUL STORY!!!♥️

perspective

This was a good story illustrating what happens when a young black girl is torn between the ghetto and the world of white privilege. Many voices come together from every side. I'm hoping it will assist in the conversation. It could do a better job illustrating the fear of police when they're on the job. Just too damn many guns out there.

Genuine, Entertaining, and Important

The reviewers who are trolling this story saying it's biased clearly haven't listened or genuinely tried to hear the moral of it.

It's a story told from the perspective of the witness. Therefore, it obviously isn't going to give you the police officers' perspective... that would be a completely different book.

The writing and narration is brilliantly executed. I couldn't find a single flaw. It flowed beautifully and had me laughing and tearing up at various times. The portrayal of a youth growing up in the circumstances of the main character was spot on.

Furthermore, this is a very important story that anyone who isn't already privy to the content and lifestyles of the witnesses and victims, should hear.

I enjoyed it immensely. I hope it helps to effect some much needed and long overdue change in our society.

Move Over Harper Lee...

Great writing, compelling story, amazing narration on the audiobook. The author really made you feel as if you were right there with the main character, Star, living in Garden Heights. From the close knit family life to the extremely frightening and dire experiences of living as an African American in the inner city, this book is definitely a modern rendition of To Kill a Mockingbird. Should be required reading in high school.