By Jack Taylor
No longer do young adult books dealing with love triangles and dystopian societies receive all the attention and praise in the book industry.
Yes, I said it, books like “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent” have been replaced with stories hitting much closer to home. Just look at “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas. The book is centered on Starr Carter, a black female who attends a rich private school, who witnesses her childhood best friend getti
ng shot down by a policeman and must decide if she should speak out.
Released in 2017, “The Hate U Give” is still at No.1 on The New York Times best sellers list for young adult hardcover books, where it has been for 48 weeks.
You won’t find a girl here confused over which boy to date, or if she should become a vampire or not. Instead, the reader witnesses a young girl finding her voice in a society where the justice system has failed to hold people accountable. Thomas also explores themes such as interracial relationships, being poorer than your peers and complex female friendships.
“The Hate U Give” gives readers an up-close look at the life a teenage black girl, which is significant considering few other young adult books have people of color as main characters. Fortunately, Hollywood has caught wind of Thomas’ success, and “The Hate U Give” is being made into a feature film starring Amandla Stenberg and rapper Common with a unannounced release date.
Additionally, author Angie Thomas is already writing her follow-up novel “On the Come Up,” which is set to be released sometime this year. Hopefully, we will see more books featuring people of diverse backgrounds in the coming years in all genres of literature.
Based off the success of “The Hate U Give,” I would say people are hungry for more.
Book reviews in The Western Front are the opinion of the individual writer. These reviews are not sponsored or influenced by advertising.
