The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
Started 04.26.20 • Finished 05.06.20
That’s the problem. We let people say stuff, and they say it so much that it becomes okay to them and normal for us. What’s the point of having a voice if you’re gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn’t be?
Another selection from my neighborhood book club. As much as the story line is difficult, I really enjoyed this book. The author writes in an authentic, relatable, and conversational way, so much so that it felt like I was in the room with her as she retold the story to me.
"At an early age I learned that people make mistakes, and you have to decide if their mistakes are bigger than your love for them."
It's actually considered a young adult book, and deals with early, unjustified death and racism. It covers the adolescent life of an inner city African-American girl who loses a close friend to a police shooting that happens right in front of her. It navigates the reader through her grieving process and the tensions that develop in her city and family because of the event. It is at once filled with sadness and promise and power.
I can’t explain the look in her eyes, but it knows me better than I know myself. It wraps me up and warms me from the inside out. “Brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared, Starr,” she says. “It means you go on even though you’re scared. And you’re doing that.”