SEPTEMBER BOTM - The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

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.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Who's in for this one in September?

[Jo]

Kayleigh {K-Books} wrote: "Who's in for this one in September?"

Me, I really wanna read this one!

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Happy you're joining us Jo. I'm really looking forward to it. I've heard great things about this one.

[heather - NightlyReading]

I will not be joining in on this one...I have sooo many books to catch up on. Happy Reading everyone!!

[Kelby]

I will join! I’m wanting to read this before the movie comes out 😍

[Brittany]

While I am interested in the book I am out this month too. Way too much catching up to do.

[Joanna]

I've been stuck on page 154 since the start of the year! Hopefully this will get me to continue reading it

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

I've just bought the book. I just need to finish my current read that I am hoping to finish today and then I will be starting it :)

[Jo]

I will probably be starting the book by the end of the week, or maybe next week, it's in storage with a lot of my other books I'm taking to Uni, so don't have access to it right now!

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Ananya... I'm not in the US but from what I've seen on social media etc there is a few cases of black people having been harmed and/or killed while in custody by police officers etc. I don't know though???

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

I find that quite terrifying to be honest. Intending to start this at the weekend.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Thanks for joining in Ananya. You read it pretty fast. I'm intending to start this weekend so shall be posting my thoughts etc in here from then.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Do my aim every month is to read the book of the month and lead the discussion and I feel so terrible about having to say this but I don’t think I can do that this month. Work is insanely busy right now (start of the academic year and all that) and honestly I’m not a major fan of contemporary / realistic fiction books. I tried to read THUG this week but I’m just not enjoying it and really don’t wanna get into a rut.

Sorry for this guys, I promise I’ll be back on it next month. The giveaway will still happen for those participating. Apologies again.

[Jo]

I still haven’t had a chance to start this yet (same issue as Kayleigh, beginning of the academic year and all that jazz) but I’m hoping to get started by the beginning of next week maybe.

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

Good luck Jo. September and October are the worst months for me. Getting back in the swing of teaching and all that. It didn't help that we had Ofsted last week (If you're not in the UK, they're the people that come in and rate whether the school/college is doing a good job or not. It's very stressful).

[Jo]

Thanks! Yeah same, actually October is worse because we get all of our first assignments right before mid-semester break, so that's always fun. I am in the UK, I remember Ofsted visits from school, all our teachers always got super stressed! I hope it went okay for you :)

[Kayleigh {K-Books}, YA Fantasy Fan]

It did thank you. It was stressful, especially as I was one of the only ones who got a full 45 min observation but we got rated ‘good’ which is what we wanted so all is good.

[Jo]

Kayleigh {K-Books} wrote: "It did thank you. It was stressful, especially as I was one of the only ones who got a full 45 min observation but we got rated ‘good’ which is what we wanted so all is good."

That's good to hear!

[Jo]

I wasn't really feeling this one at the moment, so I've put it down and I think I'll come back to it at a later date.