The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas

image: amazon.com

I heard so many good things about this book everywhere, I finally picked it up. I can tell you the reviews were right-- this is a book I had a hard time putting down. I'm almost finished, and I can't wait to pass it on for someone else to read. 

The main character, Starr, is the character I like the most, BUT her father, Maverick, is the character I think intrigues me the most. Starr's father, Big Mav, is a former gang member who is trying to steer his family in the right direction, but feels torn between the volatile neighborhood in which they live (Garden Heights) and moving to the safer suburbs. His wife, Starr's mom, is a nurse at a clinic in the neighborhood. Maverick owns a small grocery store, and when a boy from the neighborhood, Khalil, is shot by a white police officer and Mav's daughter, Starr, is the sole witness, Mav begins to question everything in his life. 

I really like Maverick because he's a character who has clearly made mistakes in his life, but is real enough to make me believe he wants a different life for his kids. He fights with his wife about moving out of the neighborhood, but because he believes his children need an education, he sends them to a private school a half hour away. Like I said before, he's torn. He wants his kids to understand where they're from but also understand where they're from shouldn't limit their futures either. 

The most difficult scene for me to read was when two white officers pulled Maverick over, and in front of his children, made him lay face down on the concrete while they searched him. The scene's set up so it's obvious it's retaliation by the white officers because Starr is speaking out against the officer who shot Khalil, but it's heartbreaking just the same. Mav doesn't handle it by getting angry and throwing things. His friends take him into the store office and through the window on the door, the reader gets a glimpse of Maverick's shoulders shaking and hear his words. They aren't angry words... 

I think Angie Thomas creates a complex, but believable, character in this father who's stuck in so many ways-- he's not stereotypical at all. It was refreshing to read.