The Hate U Give

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There's discussion of teen pregnancy and the assumption that a married couple is having sex when they go to their bedroom and turn the television up loud. This dual need, combined with Thomas's ability to root these struggles in their historical context, helps give the book its power, according to Jonathan Alexander writing in the Los Angeles Review of Books. She speaks up about the shooting in increasingly public ways, and social tensions culminate in a riot after a grand jury decides not to indict the police officer for the shooting.

How does the conversation differ between what minority children are told and white children are told? To further confuse things, Starr’s Uncle Carlos is a cop who acted as a father figure while Big Mav served a three-year prison term during her childhood – a point of tension between the two men.In a recent interview with Cosmopolitan, she explained, “‘Young adult’ is a critical age, and I knew that if I showed Starr going through these types of things, I could provide a mirror for some young adults and a window for adults—a lot of [whom] read young adult books—who might bring open hearts to a story that I told from her perspective, when they might normally look at a topic like this and say, ‘No.

This book is Young Adult Fiction, but, honestly, this novel is a must-read, and it can teach everyone so much about racism and speaking out. Teens will enjoy the book for its unfiltered look at life, death, grief, and social and political commentary, while parents and teachers will enjoy the book's well-written and thorough approach to a complex social issue.As a book written for teens, The Hate U Give reminds readers of just how often racialized violence is carried out against that age group (Michael Brown was 18 when he was killed; Trayvon Martin was 17; and not-yet teen Tamir Rice was 12). King profits off the drug dealings in Garden Heights, but does not care about the community, threatening elderly men and teenagers alike to protect his hold over the neighborhood. Since according to Nana, Aunt Pam “can’t cook worth a damn for those poor babies” she finally agreed to move. Events surrounding the killings of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile [5] and Michael Brown, [6] and widespread ensuing protests against racism and police brutality, also informed moments in the book. Nick Smart, a professor at the College of New Rochelle, takes this further, stating, "In The Hate U Give, there's also a girl– who happens to be a black girl– being sent out against the system, against the world, against an entrenched opposition," while Ramirez notes that Starr's blackness is a core element for some readers.

Starr admits that she is scared to be her true self around him, but he assures her that she is safe with him. Ofrah assured her that he didn’t have a gun, rather, it was a hairbrush that One-Fifteen claims he mistook for a gun. Lee and Low Books’s 2015 Diversity survey found that about 80 percent of industry respondents were Caucasian. Speaking to her hometown newspaper, Thomas said, "I wanted to make sure I approached it not just in anger, but with love even. Khalil's death goes viral, and Starr is caught in the middle between the protesters in the street and her friends at school.

Iesha puts her relationship with King over the safety of her children, but she is also a victim of King’s abuse.