Book Review: The Hate You Give

The Hate U Give

by Angie Thomas

 

Summary

The hate u give refers to Tupac Shakur’s interview held around 1994. Tupac didn’t consider himself a thug, but was associated with the phrase “Thug Life”. To him, it meant something a little different: 

T. The
H. Hate 
U. 
G. Give 
L. Little
I. Infants 
F. Fucks
E. Everyone

Tupac believed that the older generations needed to teach the younger generations the proper way to handle issues, much like Mav tried to do in the book. 

——-

Starr Carter grows up in a very non-conventional way. At 16 years old, living in Garden Heights, she has seen things that no child should have seen before. Garden Heights (GH) contains two sides, east and west side, with Starr residing in the west side. Both areas are overrun by gangbangers and a continuous feud. The Westside, where Starr lives and has grown-up, is run by the King Lords (KL). The east side, almost worse than the west side, is run by the Garden Disciples (GD). Garden Heights, to both white and black, is considered the ghetto.

Starr lives with her father, Maverick also known as Big Mav, an ex-con and ex-KL gang member and leader. Big Mav’s father used to be the OG of GH and he has street credit for that. Her mother, Lisa, is a levelheaded and fair woman who has a slight temper. Big Mav began working at, and later had taken over, a grocery store in GH after getting out of prison because that was the only place that would hire him. Big Mav has a big heart for his community and always tries to look out for them. A black activist and Black Panther follower to the T, Mav makes the kids learn the ten point program by heart.  Lisa is a nurse in the community and looks out for her neighborhood as well, yet she’s fearful that her kids are being raised in the wrong area. Mav refuses to leave his roots behind though. Nana, Lisa‘s mom, used to own the house that the Carter‘s live in now until Carlos, Lisa‘s older brother, tricked her into going to his nicer neighborhood and living with them.

Starr lives with her little brother, Sekani, an eight-year-old rambunctious and outgoing boy. Seven, her half brother from her father, lives with them part time as well. Seven’s stepfather, King, is the ringleader for the KL gang at the moment and has some serious issues with Mav. Years ago, Mav and Lisa got into a fight and Mav went over to King’s house. King offered up his girlfriend, Iesha, as a means to calm him down. AfTer Mav and Iesha had some one on one time, Iesha ended up pregnant, and nine months later, Seven is born. Iesha also has two other children: Kenya and Lyric, both girls. Kenya and Starr are great friends despite the fact that their dads are constantly at each other‘s throats. King is notorious for laying hands on Iesha and when she’s not around he will hit the girls and sometimes Seven. All in all, home life for everyone can be a bit difficult with the constant come and go of relatives.

When Mav was in prison for three years, Uncle Carlos took over as the father figure, even though he has two children of his own. Carlos got out of GH due to the crime and issues that constantly occurred. He is now the detective of the police force.

When Starr was ten years old, she witnessed the murder of her best friend, Natasha. Starr has always been a levelheaded child, intelligent, and knows right from wrong without having to be told. Due to Natasha’s murder, all of the Carter kids now attend Williamson Prep, a school about forty-five minutes away from GH and near Uncle Carlos’s house. A very rich prep school full of white people leave Starr and her siblings feeling awkward in the beginning. Williamson Starr is the version she plays while outside of GH to make sure that she doesn’t come off as a sassy, aggressive black girl. She puts on a front and even talks differently. Starr never wants to be considered something she is not, therefore she does what she has to do to survive.

Starr is dating a white boy, Christopher, and everyone knows except for Starr‘s father who can be a bit racist towards interracial couples. Starr’s best friends, Hailey and Maya, have been close for years now, but things between her and Hailey have been different lately. The “it” thing online is Tumblr (photo sharing site that allows likes and reblogs), and a few weeks ago Hailey unfollowed Starr’s Tumblr page. Starr assumes it’s because she was posting black activist pictures and quotes, specifically one of Emmett Till. At School, the three are a dynamic duo, but outside of school, they live in two different worlds.

The story is introduced to Starr begrudgingly attending a GH party with Kenya one evening. After running into her childhood friend, Khalil, a fight soon breaks out and Khalil directs her to his car after gun shots ring out. The two of them begin the drive home when an officer, 115, pulls them over for a broken taillight. The officer is aggressive and immediately assumes the worst about the two black kids from GH. Due to his misconceptions, Khalil ends up getting shot over a misinterpreted hairbrush in his side door compartment. Khalil was only opening the door to check on Starr, but instead he ended up with three bullets in his body. While Starr hovered over him to console him, he died in her arms. When Starr was standing over Khalil, Officer 115 held a gun to Starr until back up came even though she wasn’t a threat at all. 

Starr has now lost two of her best friends due to a shooting. She is heartbroken, but hides it from her Williamson Prep friends and boyfriend. Her parents also agree that outing herself as the witness is a bad idea, so Starr stays quiet about the fact that she was in the car during the shooting. GH immediately starts rioting and protesting over the loss of Khalil and they create a slogan: “Justice for Khalil”. 

Khalil’s mother is a crack addict looking for any high she can get, and, because of that, wasn’t in Khalil’s life much at all except for her small stints or wanting to get clean. Khalil lived with his grandmother, Ms. Rosalie, and she raised him to the best of her ability. Though sixteen years old, Khalil got caught up with King and selling drugs. The media misconstrued his intentions and background, labeling him as a “thug” and “drug dealer” and not the kid he was. We soon find out that the only reason Khalil sold drugs was to pay for his mother’s debt to King. Had Khalil not stepped up, King would have had his mother killed. With good intentions in mind, Khalil was still murdered in cold blood and labeled. Khalil refuses to join King as a King Lord and never wanted to sell drugs.

On the night of his death, Khalil mentions to Starr that he wants to speak to Mav about some “grown folks” stuff. Mav got out of the gangbanger world, but at a high cost. When Mav was a King Lord, him and King got pulled over by the cops, and Mav took the blame for King because he already had two strikes against him and was likely to live the rest of his life in prison if charged. Mav, having zero strikes against him, knew it would be a slap on the wrist compared to what would happen to King. King agreed to let Mav out of the KL and be a family man because he didn’t snitch and took the blame. Khalil never had the chance to talk to Mav about getting out too.

Khalil looked up to Mav. Mav, though considered an ex-con and drug dealer, had a giant heart and took everyone underneath his wing who needed it, including Khalil. Khalil worked at Mav’s grocery store the same way Mav was given the opportunity to work for Mr. Wyatt after prison. Mav wanted equal opportunities for everyone in GH. 

Mav and King feud more and more since Mav tries to help Seven out and insists he graduates high school and goes to college. King wants Seven to be apart of what he has going on despite it being unsafe and not what Seven wants. 

After Khalil is shot, Ms. Ofrah, the leader and attorney of Just Us for Justice, a neighborhood activist program to help cases just like this, offers to work for Starr and her family pro bono. Starr is asked but not required to testify to the grand jury over the case. After hearing an interview from the cop’s father, Starr and the rest of the world see the cop as the victim rather than a criminal. Here is when Starr decides to testify. 

Maya and Hailey have become distant from Starr due to her erratic behavior and continuous hidden lies. Hailey, a closet racist, has said inappropriate things to Maya and Starr since their friendship began. When Hailey realizes that Starr has been lying about not knowing Khalil, she outs her at school and says that if the cop had not killed him then someone else would have. Williamson Starr goes out the window, and GH Starr is introduced to Hailey and the rest of the school as Starr punches Hailey straight in the face. After this, their relationship is put on hold, no matter how much Maya tries to fix things. After a quick meet up at Maya’s house, the friendship with Hailey is finalized. Maya and Start stick together and continue to stand up for each other. 

Devante, introduced at the party to Starr by Kenya, is a KL who puts himself in a bad position when he steals five thousand dollars from King. Devante comes to Mav for help, knowing he will help him out no matter the circumstances. Devante is taken to Uncle Carlos’ house, the rich neighborhood where Maya and Chris live. Chris and Devante begin a friendship since they are in close proximity together. 

Uncle Carlos gets put on leave after punching Officer 115 in the face. Starr realizes she does need to speak up, more than she has, for Khalil. Ms. Ofrah tells her that her voice is her biggest weapon. 

The funeral occurs a week after Khalil’s death. The beautiful ceremony is halted when King and his boys show up and place a gray bandana over Khalil’s chest, representing his association with the KL. King didn’t want people to know the Khalil denied King’s offer to join. 

Prom occurs that weekend and Chris is ignoring Starr for unmentioned reasons. He knew it was Starr on the tv interview because he knew her voice and butt. He was upset that she didn’t tell him that she was the witness. They make up and attend the rest of the prom in smiles. 

After the grand jury interview, weeks pass and little happens. Mav finally agrees to move his family out of GH, but not until the school year ends and he knows the neighborhood is good. GH has been rioting and harming the neighborhood since the shooting. Officer 115 is not indicted and the neighborhood is in a rage. Riots, protesting, looting, and destruction occur. Prior to that, Kenya calls Seven because King’s boys have abducted Devante and beat him to a pulp. Bleeding on King’s floor, Seven, Chris, and Starr go to pick him up while King is holding a party during the neighborhood rage. Seven doesn’t realize it until Starr mentions it, but Iesha saves him and his sisters from getting beat by King once again. 

All of the kids are upset about the final decision and decide to drop Kenya and Lyric off at Uncle Carlos’ house so they can go riot. After the car runs out of gas, they end up on foot and come face to face with Ms. Ofrah who is screaming into a bullhorn atop a car. She has Starr “fire” her so that she is not in charge of her anymore, allowing her to climb atop the car in her place to speak. The crowd goes wild for her, but the cops do not and tear gas is thrown. In a stint of bravery, Starr grabs the tear gas that has not yet exploded and throws it back at the cops. She is unknowingly videotaped and later aired on tv. 

The trio catch a ride in a KL’s truck and head over to Mav’s grocery store for a hiding spot. The other riders in the truck come into the store to pour milk over their faces because of the burns from the tear gas. Once the other riders are well, they leave and the trio sit and relax. Devante is in pain from his beating, Starr is overwhelmed and hyped up, and Seven is worried about the neighborhood and his mother. The store is suddenly up in flames and the trio are stuck inside the burning building. After their escape, they return to safety with the entire Carter family. 


With the store, Mav’s job, ruined, they decide to rebuild. The Carter family buys a house near Uncle Carlos and begins the move in process. Mom receives the promotion she applied for and is now stationed at a new hospital. Hailey apologizes, though Starr knows things will never be the same. Mav begins to accept Chris, despite their differences. It seems all is well, and the book ends with the names of people who have been killed unfairly and how we need to stand up for them or nothing will ever change. 

Book Trailer

Again, this book has become so well-known over the past couple months, that it was decided to be made into a movie. With that being said, it is hard to find clips other than the movie clips, but it was doable. The movie is due to be released in October of 2018, and it already has a large crowd following it.

Themes

Life, Death, Money, Poverty, Drugs, Violence, Marriage, Love, Friendship, Race, Diversity, Law, and Fairness.

Similar Themed Books

Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles and Dear Martin by Nic Stone.

Other Books by Angie Thomas

This is the only book Thomas has written so far.

Teaching Ideas

At the end of the book, we are introduced to many names of men, women, and children who suffered due to police brutality and people not standing up for what is right. Discuss some of the names and see if anyone is familiar with the stories. Since no last names are given, this may be a bit difficult for younger grades due to an age issue.

Start off by researching Emmett Till's background. Discuss what occurred and how it was approached differently during that time frame. Why were things different? What was the end result?

Talk about Khalil and his circumstance. Research another similar incident that has occurred in the past couple years and discuss the issues revolving around that case. How are things different form this case to Till's? Similar to Till's case? How or why are they similar or different? End result?

Pose the question about progression and if it has occurred form Till's case to the new one, in their eyes. No answer s incorrect and we should make sure everyone has a fair chance to say what is on their mind. This should be an honest and safe conversation, preferably had after rapport has been built with the students so that they do feel safe enough to talk about these issues.