The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

I won't lie, this was rough, I read it mostly in one sitting, I started it last night (6/17/17) and it was late and I fell asleep 50 pages in and then finished it today (6/18/17). I ugly cried at least twice, was angry often, laughed a bit, and had tears running down my face for pretty much the entire book.

Shit got real on the last page, and before I tell you what I think of the book please take a minute to read the list of names and remember them, because they died, no, they were MURDERED, but they lived too, THEY LIVED!!!

What Angie Thomas did here with The Hate U Give was write in very real voice a character that is one of the bravest most relevant characters I have ever had the honor of meeting. EVER! Starr finds her voice and learns something I have been teaching my kids forever, that brave isn't the lack of fear, it is what you do in the face of fear, it is when you do the thing that scares you.

In what is sadly a ripped from real life story Starr is witness to the shooting of her best friend, an unarmed young black man by a police officer without provocation. What follows is her story, of living in her gang infested neighborhood and yet attending a predominantly white school well away from where she lives. She is two different people in each place...until Khalil's murder and her worlds collide.

What we can all learn from this is that we all have an extremely powerful weapon and can, if we care enough to use it, we can stop these senseless killings, we can make things better, we can heal and not hurt...the weapon? Our voices!!

Thank you Angie Thomas for this incredible story. I hope someday it is past and not present.

(Finished June 18, 2017)