A Life in Books: Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter is balancing her life between the impoverished neighborhood where she lives and the fancy prep school she attends when she sees a police officer shoot and kill her unarmed friend. As the only person to witness the death, she finds herself struggling with the consequences of what to say—and what not to say—when she's called into court to testify.

Angie Thomas's debut novel, The Hate U Give, was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and the 2009 shooting death of Oscar Grant in Oakland, California (which the movie Fruitvale Station was based on). The title of the book comes from the late rapper Tupac Shakur's tattoo T.H.U.G.

The Hate U Give is garnering both a significant amount of praise and buzz. It sparked a bidding war among 13 publishing houses, and a film version is already in the works with The Hunger Games actress Amandla Stenberg (who played Rue) signed on to star.

Thomas, who lives in her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, started writing her first book as a senior at Belhaven University. She shares her inspiration for The Hate U Give, her recommendations for books that address racism, and the novel that turned her into a reader.


The Hate U Give was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and focuses on the police shooting of an unarmed black man, racism, and black identity. What's a book that tackles discrimination, racism, or inequality that you've loved or found inspiring?