The book follows Starr, a 16-year-old Black girl. She lives with her family in the self-described "ghetto" yet attends an elite, mostly-white private high school in the suburbs. She keeps her identities separate: her Black family (including her dad, formerly incarcerated and a former gang member), Black friends, and Black neighborhood don't interact with her white school, white friends, and white boyfriend. Those two worlds are brought together when Starr witnesses a police officer murder her childhood friend, Khalil, during a traffic stop.
The book was published in 2017 and the movie adaptation followed in 2018, and of course in 2020 it feels even more relevant--and important--for its audience. One of the things The Hate U Give does best is offer an empathetic perspective, particularly for individuals commonly dismissed by society. Starr's father is no saint: he was a gang leader, and Starr has a half-brother from an affair, but he's also a man deeply devoted to his family and his community. Such characterizations can, over the course of the novel, veer almost too simplistic (all the sympathetic characters with "bad" pasts are ultimately redeemed or their actions admirably explained), but it works as a whole to reflect the layers that go into creating criminals, drug addicts, and gang members. People don't "choose" those lives because they're evil. They "choose" such lives because they have no other choices.
Maybe even more necessary, The Hate U Give provides insight into how white behavior--even from well-meaning white people--contributes to racism. White Fragility and similar books clearly make this claim, but I imagine presenting the same argument in an engaging YA read could be even more effective. There's Hailey, Starr's school friend who wants Starr to just "get over" racism, and there's also Chris, Starr's supportive and loving boyfriend--who also, unintentionally, allows his white privilege to keep from fully seeing Starr's life.
The book is a funny, frank, and thoughtful introduction for young readers--particularly white readers--to issues of inequality and racism raised by the Black Lives Matter and other protests.
