The Hate U Give Read-along
I’m not sure I can write a recommendation that does The Hate U Give justice, but I’m going to try. You know how there are those books that leave their mark on you, that change your life forever? When I was younger, To Kill a Mockingbird and Invisible Man and A Room of One’s Own were those books.
As an adult, there are few books that affected me that way, and The Hate U Give is one of them. I’m not gonna lie The Hate U Give is a book that tackles a difficult topic. And if I hadn’t heard Angie Thomas talk at a YA panel at the LA Times Festival of Books, I may not have picked it up. But she intrigued me.
Since THUG contains such difficult topics, I thought I’d make it book #2 in our read-alongs. Even if you feel ‘if-fy’ reading a book that focuses on a controversial topic, I urge you to give it a try. Thomas handles the topic with finesse, and without being overly preachy. At its heart, The Hate U Give is a coming-of-age story. Forget politics, forget bipartisanism, this book has so much heart.
We’ll be discussing the details of the first half of the book early next week, and the last half of the book at the end of the month. Feel free to PM or email me if you have questions or concerns or good discussion points.
Summary (from Amazon):
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
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Let me know if you're joining me in the read-along by posting in the comments below or send me an email or PM me on Instagram. xoxoxo
Side note: As I was driving to work this morning after dropping off the kids at school, there was a montage on the radio about Sept 11. I’ll be honest and say that I couldn’t listen to it because I didn’t want to cry on the way to work. So I changed the channel and my eyes teared up anyway. To this of you who were more personally affected by the terrorist events that occurred on September 11, 2001, I’m thinking of you today. For those of you who are looking for books to talk about these events with your kids, please see here.
#UnitedWeStand
