Angie Thomas is a new name to many young-adult novel fans. The Hate U Give is Thomas’s first novel, but the quality shows anything but inexperience.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter is stuck between two worlds. She attends a predominately white private school while living in a poor black neighborhood. Starr struggles with the internal conflict between her two personalities. If she acts like “Williamson Starr” at home, she’ll be seen as preppy and disloyal. If she acts like “Garden Heights Starr” at school, too many painful stereotypes follow.

“I never know which Starr I should be. I can use some slang, but not too much slang, some attitude, but not too much attitude, so I’m not a ‘sassy black girl.’ I have to watch what I say and how I say it, but I can’t sound ‘white,’” said Starr Carter in The Hate U Give.

The screen between her two worlds is torn to shreds after the death of her childhood best friend, Khalil. Khalil is shot by a police officer while driving home from a party. The worst part is that Starr watched it happen from the passenger seat. She wants justice for her friend, but she’s been afraid for so long.

“People like us in situations like this become hashtags, but they rarely get justice. I think we all wait for that one time, though, that one time when it ends right. Maybe,” said Starr in the novel.

The Hate U Give tells a story that many teenagers live every day. Angie Thomas does a wonderful job of putting the reader in the shoes of Starr Carter and others in her community. The reality lived by Starr is one that most of us will never understand. Through this story, Thomas gives a glimpse into the lives of thousands of teenagers all over the country.

“I look at books as being a form of activism because a lot of times they’ll show us a side of the world that we may not have known about,” said Thomas.

The worst aspect of young adult novels is that they always seem to be exactly the same. Thomas strayed from this tradition as she tells an extremely important story. The Hate U Give displays a new perspective on the debate of racism. Racism can come in a million different forms. Most people are more concerned with the question of, “how could they think I’m racist” than “what can I do to be more accepting and understanding?” It may be 2018, but racism still runs amok in our country.

“To every kid in Georgetown and in all the ‘Gardens’ of the world: your voices matter, your dreams matter, your lives matter. Be roses that grow in the concrete,” said Starr Carter.

Starr Carter lives a reality the majority of us are completely unfamiliar with. Angie Thomas tells the story of thousands through only one fictional character. This book is a must read for every teen in the world.