ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Angie Thomas
Angie Thomas was born, raised, and still resides in Jackson, Mississippi as indicated by her accent. She is a former teen rapper whose greatest accomplishment was an article about her in Right-On Magazine with a picture included. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing from Belhaven University and an unofficial degree in Hip Hop.She is an inaugural winner of the Walter Dean Myers Grant 2015, awarded by We Need Diverse Books. Her debut novel, The Hate U Give, is a #1 New York Times Best Seller. Film rights have been optioned by Fox 2000 with George Tillman attached to direct and Hunger Games actress Amandla Stenberg attached to star.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
The Hate U Give
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.
LISTEN HERE:
The All Spoilers Collective gets a little bit critical in this episode about a book we also like a lot. We find ourselves saying things like, “I cried but,” or “the book is trying to do this, but.” Let’s just say there are a lot of “buts.” While we praise this novel for putting black girls at the center, we have a lot of questions about the representation of radical activism and freedom movements, the consequences of snitching, and what it really means to move to the suburbs. There’s also an apology for King, and Todd bags on the Fresh Prince maybe a little too much. You’re going to love this hot little episode in which the Collective gets as prickly as they ever have.
WHAT ELSE THE SPOILERS ARE READING:
- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
- Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston
- Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston
- Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Valerie Boyd
- The Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemisin
- The Binti trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor
- The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor
- Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
- Black Water Rising by Attica Locke
- The Heritage: Black Athletes, a Divided America, and the Politics of Patriotism by Howard Bryant
- How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
- The Republic of East LA by Luis J. Rodriguez
