The Hate U Give

By Angie Thomas
Lexile = 590

Oh my ... where do I begin? They say that reading can take you places that you have never been. The Hate U Give takes you to the 'hood and that is a place I have never been.

Starr Carter lives in Garden Heights, a neighborhood filled with violence and drugs. But it is also filled with people who love their neighborhood and are trying to live their lives. Starr's parents have sent her to a "fancy" school in the suburbs, so she is living in two worlds. She even talks about having changing her manner of speech at school and not talking about her home neighborhood with her school friends.

One night, Khalil, a friend since they were babies, is pulled over for no reason by a cop. He is forcibly removed from the car and killed. The officer claims he had a gun. Starr witnesses the entire thing and knows that Khalil is perfectly innocent. What follows is textbook Black Lives Matter controversy all told from Starr's perspective.

Starr's story is so well told and perhaps that is what makes it difficult to read. The language here is VERY rough. I can usually overlook language and focus on the plot, but it was pretty overwhelming. That will eliminate some readers, I know. Reviewers all over are saying this is "must read" for people everywhere. I even heard is was included on a recommended library list put out in a BYU class. I agree there are many lessons to learn in Thomas' book.

The Hate U Give is being made into a movie and is due for an October 2018 release. I bet the language is drastically pulled back in order to get a PG-13 rating. Meanwhile, watch an excellent student produced book trailer HERE.