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A review by jenpaul13
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
5.0
There are some things in life that we've always understood as "the way things are," but that doesn't mean that they have to or should be that way. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas explores the functioning of a societal system and how a spark can ignite a series of changes.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Starr Carter has two selves: her "true" self in her poor neighborhood and her "socially accepted" self in her suburban prep school. Starr has been navigating the balance between these two selves for a years and has got it down pretty well. But when she is the witness to her childhood best friend, who was unarmed, being killed by a police officer, her two lives begin to increasingly intersect, forcing her to reconcile the two into a more coherent and cohesive whole. As people take the life and death of her friend Khalil to further their opinions on and justification for the police officer's actions, Starr decides to speak up with the truth to try and get Khalil the justice he deserves. In speaking up, Starr recognizes that there is a larger effect her words will have on her family and community and weighs the consequences of bringing upheaval to the status quo.
This text educates, emotes, and is simply a powerful work that depicts the harsh, deplorable realities faced by portions of our population. The sense of family conveyed in this novel is remarkable with the unique, though not uncommon, family dynamics of the Carters and how a neighborhood can move beyond a community of peers to behave like a tightly-knit support structure reminiscent of a family. Taking volatile subjects of racism and systematic brutality, this narrative makes them easier to contextualize and comprehend for younger readers, who ought to be educated in these topics to prevent the same issues repeating themselves ad nauseam - it's definitely a good book for students to read and encourage a dialogue about the issues presented within its pages (and in society).
Overall, I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Starr Carter has two selves: her "true" self in her poor neighborhood and her "socially accepted" self in her suburban prep school. Starr has been navigating the balance between these two selves for a years and has got it down pretty well. But when she is the witness to her childhood best friend, who was unarmed, being killed by a police officer, her two lives begin to increasingly intersect, forcing her to reconcile the two into a more coherent and cohesive whole. As people take the life and death of her friend Khalil to further their opinions on and justification for the police officer's actions, Starr decides to speak up with the truth to try and get Khalil the justice he deserves. In speaking up, Starr recognizes that there is a larger effect her words will have on her family and community and weighs the consequences of bringing upheaval to the status quo.
This text educates, emotes, and is simply a powerful work that depicts the harsh, deplorable realities faced by portions of our population. The sense of family conveyed in this novel is remarkable with the unique, though not uncommon, family dynamics of the Carters and how a neighborhood can move beyond a community of peers to behave like a tightly-knit support structure reminiscent of a family. Taking volatile subjects of racism and systematic brutality, this narrative makes them easier to contextualize and comprehend for younger readers, who ought to be educated in these topics to prevent the same issues repeating themselves ad nauseam - it's definitely a good book for students to read and encourage a dialogue about the issues presented within its pages (and in society).
Overall, I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars.