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Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does-or does not-say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
Starting today! Ordered my book & it was taking FOREVER to come. Turns out, I ordered it from London by accident. Oops! I need to check my order more carefully next time 🙂
Mine hasn’t come in yet either. I put it on hold at the library but it’s a popular one. But I did get started on To Kill a Mockingbird. 🙂
I was about to go in reverse and start on To Kill A Mockingbird, the same day THUG arrived. I’ve never had any issues with Amazon, so I was wondering what the heck was going on, and when I checked my order more carefully, I saw the delivery was from the UK. I don’t know how I managed to do that haha!
Oh boy – the audiobook is fantastic for this book. The narrator really brings the voices and the grit to life. Unfortunately, I find myself crying while I’m driving. A great read so far.
Done! I really liked this book. Very good, and I would definitely recommend it. I could not put it down, which was bad because I took it on vacation, and then did not want to put it down haha! It was a very quick, easy read. I found that the story flowed nicely, and smoothly. It made me want to keep reading on, to find out what would happen next. In that respect, it had a sort of suspense element to it, even though it is not a “suspense” book.
I enjoyed how Angie T. brought all of the characters to life. From the main characters, to the smaller support characters. She did a great job giving them all a voice, and bringing them to life. I really liked Starr, and felt for her the entire book. I felt like however she was feeling was exactly how I was feeling. Angie T. did a great job of telling a young girl’s story, without the book seeming juvenile or too “YA” (which ya’ll know I hate “YA”). The opening scene of the book, when Starr is at the party, reminds me of the Alessia Cara song “Here”. I kept thinking of that song that whole time 🙂
Angie T. also did a great job of integrating contemporary topics into the story. I enjoyed seeing the characters work through these major issues of our time, with a point of view that sheds light on the issues.
I’m looking forward to seeing this movie. I think it is coming out in October. Other than Issa Rae and Common, I am not familiar with the cast, so I don’t really know much about it. While I was reading the book, I kept thinking that I would like to see it brought to life on film.
I finished this up a couple of days ago and can’t quite articulate my thoughts. It was a great read. I can’t even begin to understand what it’s like to be in their shoes. From a parent perspective, I can absolutely feel for what Lisa lived with – wanting to raise her kids outside of Garden Heights, wanting to give them every opportunity available to them without them having to live the dangers of simply walking down the street. But I still found myself trying to understand Mav’s point of view – not wanting to turn his back on his community or his people and being a source of positivity and hope. The layers and complexity of that are truly hard to come to terms with – and it’s not as easy as black and white.
I am a huge fan of Tupac and what he did in terms of activism. It was a privilege to grow up in the Bay Area and see how he brought his world into the main stream with such honesty. While the rest of the world was rappin’ about bling and women, his lyrics always depicted life. To see the essence of his work weaved into this novel was such a tribute to the man he was. But even he wasn’t able to turn away from the gang life. I see a lot of Tupac in Mav’s character. There was a brief description of Mav with his snapback hat turned backwards and I swear, I pictured Tupac. I kept picturing King as Suge Knight. Did you know that Tupac wanted to name his daughter Star? If he’d had a daughter, I imagine she would be just like her character in the book.
Maverick’s talks with his daughter were among my favorite parts of the book. They just came across as so real and so freakin’ relevant. They’re conversations I imagine many black families have to have with their children. Even the way Starr had her dad’s voice in her head when she and Khalil got pulled over – knowing how to act and to respond in the presence of officers. Damn that scene was so real.
I found Star’s efforts to reconcile her two worlds really interesting as well. You’d think it would be so easy to just be yourself but not when the world is ready to define you just by the way you look. Oh — and I really liked how Maverick wanted to know WHY – why did she choose a white boy? His comment about having him as her father turned her away from black men really gave me pause. How powerful was that? I enjoyed that conversation and loved that she told him that he taught her what to look for in a MAN.
The names at the end of the book simply broke my heart. Too real and too little change even after all those deaths.
the audiobook for this was truly well done. The narrator brought a grit and energy that the book needed to really show the power & emotion in the story. Though I thought her “Hailey” voice was too cliche “valley girl”
I liked when Mav talked about Tupac too. And Starr was like “he’s old school.” Made me feel so damn old! If Tupac is considered old school, damn, I might as well just turn in my coolness card haha!
Okay, and speaking of Pac…did I ever tell you about the “University of Maryland Tupac?” We went to UMD from 1997-2001. While there, there was this dude who used to hang around the mall area (the grassy & fountain area on main campus), and a main corner, and I used to see him around campus too. He was a dead-ringer for Tupac. A total doppleganger. It was freaky. He used to be called “3Pac” haha! I think his name is Lee Majorz and he had/has a hip-hop career. But it was freaky because people used to joke and say “Tupac’s alive! And he goes to UMD!” 🙂 I’m not even sure if he actually went to school there, or if he just hung out there playing up the image. Either way, it is one of our fondest UMD memories.
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