The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is an amazing book that tackles themes of race, identity, and justice. The main character Starr Carter is a 16 year old African American girl who has two lives:her rich prep school and her poor neighborhood. For most of her life, they stayed separate, but it all changes when Starr’s friend Khalil is wrongfully shot by a police officer who presumed that Khalil pulling out a comb was Khalil pulling out a gun.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is a powerful novel following a black teenage girl named Starr Carter who is forced to see two of her childhood best friends brutally murdered at a young age. Starr struggles to fight against the discrimination and police brutality her entire community has faced--she is put in a situation where she must stand up for what is right. She has the choice to either stay quiet to protect herself, or speak up for those she has lost.
Summary: An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon is a compelling work of fiction set on a generational spaceship, the HSS Matilda, where society is divided by race and class, echoing the injustices of America. The story follows Aster, a dark-skinned healer who discovers secrets about the ship's past while navigating a hierarchy that mirrors the worst aspects of slavery.
We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds is a romantic mystery novel where Avery moves from D.C. to a small southern town and unravels her family secrets, and what it means to fall in love again. This story tackles both racism and homophobia in the United States, weaving a deep mystery. Avery has to reconnect with her tough, hardened Mama Letty. There is a lot of characterization of both Avery and Letty. The other characters help support the novel but feel a little stereotypical without a lot of growth.
The Power of One is a movie based on life in South Africa during the 1930s. The movie is about Peekay, a young boy who grows up in South Africa during the 1930s and 1940s. Peekay faces many challenges throughout his life, including bullying, racism, and everyone he cares about leaving him or dying. He finds out he has a passion for boxing and develops strong relationships with his mentor, Doc, and a black prisoner named Geel Piet.
Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero by Saadia Faruqui, is about a boy named Yusuf Azeem and his troubles with being an immigrant Muslim in America. He is starting 6th grade in this close to the 20th anniversary of 9/11. With all the “never forget” banners around the school Yusuf starts to feel like he does not belong. Then on the first day of 6th grade he starts getting mean and racist notes in his locker. Yusuf is a boy who likes robotics and likes to code. He is very smart and brave.
The play by Hansberry considers the life of a household as they attempt to live an ideal life. The family faces discrimination and unfair treatment due to them being African Americans. Nonetheless, they aspire towards moving out of their current apartment and living in their own home. The family runs into trouble when Walter Lee Younger and his mother have a conflict of interest on whether they should buy a house with the money they have or attempt to begin a business opportunity.
Often when people of color are asked how exactly racism works, a one-sentence answer isn't enough for the complexity, history, and future of the United States’ racism. However, Coates’ book, Between the World and Me, offers an insight into racism that I believe every American should have exposure to. Coates writes this book to his son, Samori, to explain the vulnerability of his black body in a country ignorant of a racist reality. This novel covers topics from slavery,
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, is a story about an African-American 16-year-old girl named Starr Carter. Starr is stuck balancing living in a poor run-down neighborhood and attending an upper-class prep school in the suburbs. But everything goes even more downhill when she witnesses her best friend Khalil getting murdered by a police officer. Khalil was unarmed and hadn’t done anything that would cause him to get killed.
My rating for this book is a 2.5 because the book is bland in my opinion and does not have intensive detail. This book failed to get my interest and I believe the main reason was not enough detail.
