At the start of the book, Starr is at a party with her friend, Kenya. Kenya is talking about how she wants to fight this one girl who is talking to a guy that Kenya’s interested in. Kenya leaves Starr alone at a party with people who call her, “Big Mavs daughter who works at the store”. Khalil, Starr’s friend who she hasn’t seen in months, starts conversing with her until, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, they hear gunshots. Khalil and Starr rush out of the party, and get into Khalil’s car (Starr doesn’t have one). As they are driving away, Khalil gets stopped by a cop, who asks him to step out of the vehicle. Khalil is then shot in cold blood by the white officer 115.
The book The Hate U Give is an amazing narrative of life as a black individual, and a great allusion to Tupac Shakur’s tattoo THUG LIFE. The language used gets you immersed to the point where it feels like you’re just watching the movie.
The narrative itself follows thug life when Khalil consistently gets his name slandered, causing Starr to act out during riots, and at school. Author Angie Thomas also touches on the topic of systemic racism, especially when Starr’s father Maverick points out “it’s easier to find crack than a good school around here.” A powerful quote on its own, due to the fact that public schools being underfunded in real life makes it all the more powerful. Because Starr’s school is a private school, so predominantly white, the story touches on the racism ingrained in rich white people’s minds, and the racism that is constantly displayed by students and schools failure to prevent it. Overall it’s an exceptional piece of literature and will go down as one of the greats. I highly recommend The Hate U Give.