LoveReading4Kids Says
LoveReading4Kids Says
October 2018 Debut of the Month | Awarded the Amnesty CILIP Honour commendation from the Carnegie shortlist 2018 | Shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2018 | One of Our Books of the Year 2017 | Longlisted for the UKLA 2018 Book Award | In a Nutshell: Fighting for Justice | Black Lives Matter |
Stunning, vital wake-up call of a novel about racism, social inequality and not giving up told through the eyes of an incredible, unforgettable sixteen-year-old.
Starr straddles two very different worlds. She has one foot in Garden Heights, a rough neighbourhood ruled by gangs, guns and dealers, and the other in an exclusive school with an overwhelmingly wealthy white student population. One night she’s at a party when gunshots are fired and Khalil, her friend since childhood, takes her to his car for safety. Khalil is unarmed and poses no threat, but he’s shot dead by an officer right in front of her. It will take a lot of courage to speak to the police, and to face the media who choose to highlight that Khalil was a “suspected drug dealer”, while omitting to mention that he was unarmed. But, with their neighbourhood under curfew and a tank on the streets, Starr risks going public. Danger escalates as the hearing approaches (and beyond), but Starr isn’t about to give up fighting for Khalil, and for what’s right.
Alongside the intense struggles and conflicts faced by Starr’s family and community, there are some truly heart-melting moments between Starr and her white boyfriend Chris (their shared love of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air is super cute), and also between Starr and her parents. Complex, gripping, stirring and so, so important – I can’t recommend this remarkable debut enough.
Joanne Owen
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About
The Hate U Give Synopsis
Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping novel about one girl's struggle for justice.
About This Edition
ISBN: |
9781406387933 |
Publication date: |
9th August 2018 |
Author: |
Angie Thomas |
Publisher: |
Walker Books Ltd |
Format: |
Paperback |
Pagination: |
437 pages |
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Press Reviews
Angie Thomas Press Reviews
No. 1 New York Times bestseller
A classic in the making. The Times
Places a spotlight on Black Lives Matter. Stylist
Passionate and uncompromising. The Observer
A must-read. The Pool
Outstanding. The Guardian
Powerful. Metro
Author
About Angie Thomas
Angie Thomas was born and raised in a tough neighbourhood in Jackson, Mississippi where gunshots were a frequent refrain. The library became her sanctuary; a place where she could escape into fantastical, magical worlds.
“I still remember the first time I travelled to Narnia, the first time I met Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which; the first time I rode a broom with the boy with the lightning scar.”
Yet these magical worlds never included girls who looked like her; or reflected her culture. It led her to believe that books weren’t for kids like her. She knew then that she didn’t want any other child to feel that way. She pursued a writing career and was the first Black teenager to graduate from her creative writing course at Belhaven University. Struggling to secure an agent with her work-in-progress, Angie turned her pen to YA and contemporary stories inspired by true events.
Her debut novel The Hate U Give was published to critical and commercial acclaim around the globe – it launched straight to No.1 on the New York Times bestseller list and has remained on the list since the book’s publication in 2017. In the UK, it was an Amazon No.1 bestseller, and was awarded the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, British Book Awards’ Children’s Book of the Year and the Amnesty CILIP Honour for the Carnegie Medal. An award-winning film adaptation was released in 2018, starring Amandla Stenberg. Her second novel On The Come Up was inspired by her time as a teen rapper, and is also a New York Times bestseller and film, released in 2022 and available to stream on Paramount+.
Angie founded A Tough ACT Productions to bring Black Girl Magic and Black Boy Joy to screens and was a producer on both The Hate U Give and On The Come Up adaptations. She is also the author of Concrete Rose (2021), a prequel to The Hate U Give, and Blackout (2021), co-authored with Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon.
Find her on Instagram @angiethomas
More About Angie Thomas
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Kids love to read and so in addition to the review by one of the Lovereading4kids editorial experts some of our Lovereading4kids Reader Review Panel members were also lucky enough to read and review this title. Click here to read their full reviews.
- Humaira, age 18 - 'You’d better believe the hype for this book. The Hate U Give is everything...This book is going to be deemed to be a classic.'
- Rose, age 17 - 'The Hate U Give is a modern, relevant young adult book...An inspiring book that showed that every life matters.'
- Georgia Walters, age 16 - 'If you read one book this year, make it this one. It's unflinchingly powerful and brave. The narrative is compelling and unforgettable - this book will stay with me for a long time.'
- Talia Jacobs, age 15 - 'The Hate U Give is such an interesting book with elements tackling racism, living with poverty, identity, family and school life. I absolutely loved it and really recommend it!'
- Jenny Duffy, age 23 - 'Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a gripping and powerful read that I think should be essential reading for teenagers.'
- Megan Abbott, age 18 - 'Compellingly beautiful. I applaud Angie Thomas for this beautifully crafted young adult novel about what prejudice looks like in the 21st century.' Izzy Read, age 16
- 'This is the book that YA has been waiting for...' Abbie Bavister, age 14
- 'A powerful novel about a young girls fight for justice amongst deeply engrained prejudice.'
- Rebekah Marsh, age 14 - 'The book touches on racism, love, family and friendship all in a completely amazing storyline with characters that provoke tears, laughter and so many more emotions.'
- Khadijah Ahmed - 'The Hate U Give evokes the same feelings sparked from the documentaries and news articles about police brutality: anger, incredulity, heartbreak, despair. And yet, somehow, hope in the light at the end of the tunnel.'