YA novel dealing with police brutality tops bestseller chart

In these unsettling times, when the world’s administrative system is induced with hatred and not benevolence, it is nothing short of a solace to know that teens can actually have great taste in books. Angie Thomas’s debut novel, The Hate U Give, which was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and only came out last week, has already hit No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list for young-adult books.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Oh. My. Jesus!!!!! <a href="https://t.co/Zbzz8sXLDR">pic.twitter.com/Zbzz8sXLDR</a></p>&mdash; Angie Thomas (@acthomasbooks) <a href="https://twitter.com/acthomasbooks/status/839603738541084672">March 8, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The book, geared toward young adults that address state violence directly, is an important and timely new title in such troubled times. Its story centres around 16-year-old Starr, a black girl who witnesses the shooting of her childhood friend by a police officer. Both Starr and her friend Khalil were rashly and wrongly judged by the court to be associated with gang violence; her offense being her skin colour. For the rest of the story, Starr copes with grief and guilt.

Author Angie Thomas said that the book is inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, which began in 2012 as a response to the shooting of Trayvon Martin by the US police. New York Times Book Review editor Pamela Paul shared that The Hate U Give is the top title on the paper’s bestseller list for Young Adult Hardcovers.

“A lot of people don’t realize that Black Lives Matter is both an organization and a movement. I think both of them have done so much in just a few short years to bring attention to the systemic problems in this country.”, said Thomas in an interview with The Daily Good.

It looks like the book’s success isn’t about to stop there, either: It’s already been optioned for a film starring Amandla Stenberg. The kids are going to be all right!