Starr Carter, the protagonist of The Hate U Give just wanted to live a normal life free from any huge troubles. However, her dreams of normalcy are shattered when she witnesses the shooting death of a childhood friend. Starr is torn between speaking out and keeping it to herself, but as challenges in her community grow, Starr realizes sometimes, you have to be brave to cause change.
This book was one of the novels we could choose for our English class. I’m not going to lie, realistic fiction isn’t really my type of book, but Thomas wrote it in such a good way: humor intermingled with real-world themes along with a splash of growing up. The characters all had their unique quirk, and they weren’t just background actors in a movie. They actually supported Starr throughout the story. This book embodies themes of social injustice, action and is a great read if you’re interested in stories about people speaking up about their beliefs. I took the liberty of digging into the book’s background a bit. Turns out, the author took inspiration from an actual instance of police brutality and wanted to express her feelings to the public in the form of a novel. Starr and her friends might not be real, but their messages definitely are. Maybe give it a try if you’ve got the time!