The Beauty of Reading: The Hate U Give

Thomas, A. (2017). The hate u give. NY: HarperCollins

16-year-old Starr Carter lives in an urban, black neighborhood in Garden Heights with her parents and two brothers, Seven and Sekani; however, she attends a majority white private school. One night while Starr is at a party in her neighborhood, she runs into her childhood friend Khalil. Khalil was her first crush, and although they hadn’t seen each other in a very long time, they were both happy to catch up. Nonetheless, when a fight breaks out at the party, the two leave before things get out of hand. Suddenly, as they were driving, a police car pulls Khalil's car over, and before they know it, Khalil gets shot and killed. Brian Cruise was the white police officer that killed him for no reason. Starr goes to the police station to give her report of the shooting, and the police try to make Khalil's death seem justified, entailing he was involved with gangs and drugs. At Khalil's funeral, King tries to claim he was part of his gang. Many people are defending Officer Cruise stating he feared for his life. Yet, that doesn’t stop Starr from telling her own version of what really happened. She even has to put up with one specific girl in school named Hailey, who makes racist remarks very often. DeVante is a member of King’s gang and Maverick offers to protect him. King becomes upset and certainly doesn’t stay without doing anything. Seven, Starr’s brother calls her while she is at her white boyfriend's house and tells her that DeVante is missing. They later find him badly beaten at King's house and get him safely out and into their car. That’s when they hear on the radio the grand jury's decision. Officer Cruise will not be indicted. Immediately Violent demonstrations break out in Garden Heights. Businesses are destroyed and robbed and police cars are burning. Police officers throw tear gas into the crowd but Starr still manages to use a megaphone to reprimand the police for not caring about what happened to Khalil. Everyone is choking on tear gas when they are picked up in a car by a friend of Maverick's, who take them to the safety of the corner store Maverick owns. It is not safe for long, though, as someone opens the door and tosses a burning bottle inside. Maverick and a neighbor rescue the kids as the store burns. Across the street, King and his gang point and laugh. When the police arrive on the scene, the neighbors come together to declare King the one responsible for the fire. King is arrested for arson. Maverick vows to rebuild the store, and Starr vows to never forget Khalil and to continue to speak up in the face of injustice.

This is definitely a book that tells a very similar story to the ones we have heard in the news for the last couple of years. It is sad but true that these things do happen in real life making this novel realistic fiction. It addresses racism and police brutalities, which are current issues that we commonly see. It basically demonstrates that it is important to use your voice to make people aware and educate them on subjects like these.