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Review and Study Guide for Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give
A black high school girl navigating two worlds copes with the trauma of witnessing a police officer kill her friend.
by Ari Armstrong, Copyright © 2026
I read this book as part of my review of the books suppressed by Colorado's Elizabeth School District. See the main document.
The Hate U Give
Angie Thomas
Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins), 2017
Reading Notes
Recently my family watched the first Rambo film, First Blood (1982). It's about a Vietnam war veteran struggling with PTSD, depression, suicidal inclinations, loneliness, and loss of purpose. It's also about police abuses and violence, which are what set the main story in motion. Basically, the film is about Rambo waging war against a local police force that had subjected him to wrongful arrest and brutality. Because the victim in the film is white and a war hero, we don't usually hear complaints that the film promotes violence against police or treats police unfairly.
The Hate U Give also is about police violence, but the victim is black. And apparently that makes all the difference, for this is one of the books suppressed by the Elizabeth School District and often challenged elsewhere.
I am not someone who automatically assumes that anytime a police officer shoots or harms someone the officer is in the wrong. Indeed, I think most police shootings and comparable acts are justified, morally and legally. I also think cases should be evaluated based on specific facts. For example, I think the police-involved killing of Elijah McClain (2019) absolutely was not justified.
The Hate U Give not only is about the unjustified police killing of an unarmed young black man. Mainly it's about a girl struggling to live in two worlds, her poor black neighborhood and her upscale mostly-white school, and struggling to cope with the death of her friend, Khalil, at the hands of a police officer, an incident that she witnessed close-up. But the central event of the story is the police shooting, and, for some reviewers, that is unforgivable.
In a way this is a strange book for Christian conservatives to suppress, because the book is in its own way both deeply Christian and deeply conservative. Yes, it has quite a few swear words. Yes, it has a brief discussion of manual sexual stimulation—but that is in the context of the lead character, Starr, flatly telling her boyfriend that she is not ready for sex, and him quickly apologizing for suggesting full-on sex despite her expressed desire not to have it.
The author, Angie Thomas, begins her acknowledgements by thanking "my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." Christianity is extremely important to Starr's family, although Starr's father worships Black Jesus, which will make some white conservatives uncomfortable. Church life plays a significant role in the novel.
Starr's nuclear family is portrayed in a highly positive light (despite its struggles), and Starr has a very strong relationship with both her mother and father. The novel promotes education, self-improvement, and community involvement, all conservative values. Yes, the novel portrays drug use—as uniformly destructive.
True, the novel is somewhat tolerant of property damage as a form of social protest (or at least it can be read that way), although Starr ultimately comes out against it. And, while the most-discussed villain of the book is a black gangster (the white cop who shoots Starr's friend resides in the background), the novel also portrays gang activity as understandable and at times even benevolent. Those are provocative stances, obviously.
Notably, The Hate You Give is decidedly not anti-police. Yes, the officer in question shoots and kills and young black man, and many of the novel's characters, including Starr, understandably consider that killing a murder (even though the officer is not prosecuted). Yes, during a protest, some characters shout, "F... the police." And Starr throws back a tear-gas canister toward police that they had first thrown at her. But that is not the end of the story. Starr's uncle, practically a second father to the girl, is a police officer. During an interview, Starr says, "My uncle's a cop. I know not all cops are bad. And they risk their lives, you know?" (p. 289) And, toward the end of the novel, police justifiably "draw their guns" on the villainous gangster and arrest him, portrayed as "something to celebrate" (p. 425, 428). So claims that the novel is anti-cop are just ignorant.
Questions for Discussion and Review
1. The book opens with Starr's anxiety about her identity: "There are just some places where it's not enough to be me. Either version of me" (p. 3). A lot of people feel like they inhabit two or more worlds. What is behind Starr's split identity, how does she alter her speech and behavior in different circumstances, and how does she eventually close the gap?
2. Thomas reveals the meaning of her title (p. 17), a quote by Tupac Shakur. Various characters praise Shakur (e.g., p. 168). Why does Thomas pick that title? In what ways, and to what degree, are the sentiments of the quote true? What should we make of Thomas's use of the quote given Shakur's troubled personal life?
3. How else, and to what effect, does Thomas invoke popular culture to tell her story? For example, she also refers to The Fresh Prince of Bell-Air (p. 35).
4. What role does religion play in Starr's life, her father's life, and her community?
5. Research question: Starr's father was influenced by the Black Panthers (p. 31). What was the purpose of the group? What were its tactics? What led to its decline? What should we make of its "Ten-Point Program?
6. Much of the story involves Starr finding the courage to speak out and to use her voice as her "biggest weapon" (p. 410). Why is speaking out so hard for Starr and for so many others? What drives her eventually to speak? What are other key examples in the novel of people acting courageously? In what ways is the novel Thomas's weapon?
7. Maverick made some serious mistakes in his life. How is he able to become a good father, a successful businessman, and a respected community leader, and what does his example say about the possibility of redemption?
8. Although some of Thomas's characters are basically good (Maverick, Carlos, Starr) while some are basically evil (King), Thomas presents many characters as morally complex and all characters as capable of making mistakes. We've mentioned Maverick's serious past mistakes. Khalil, while basically a good person, got involved with selling drugs. Carlos initially defended the police officer. Several of the characters have serious substance-abuse problems, although they remain largely sympathetic. Starr herself makes several serious mistakes throughout the novel. Carlos says of Khalil, "He was more than any bad decision he made" (p. 256). What is Thomas saying through these examples about character, mistakes, and the potential for growth?
9. As presented in the novel, what is the relative importance of environment versus choice in a person's life? What does this say about drug abuse and gang involvement?
10. Initially Starr hides her white boyfriend from her father, Maverick, and at first Maverick reacts very negatively to Starr dating a white boy. Why does Maverick react that way, and how does he eventually come around?
11. At one point Carlos, Starr's uncle and a police officer, says to Maverick about the shooting, "Why does it always have to be about race with you? Other races aren't killing us nearly as much as we're killing ourselves" (p. 53). Does he have a point? Is the problem with his remark here only one of wrong place, wrong time? How does the novel respond to Carlos's claim?
12. One of the characters says about Starr's area, "This neighborhood makes young men deaf to their elders" (p. 65). What is Thomas saying about the generational conveyance of culture and wisdom and about social problems that can undermine such transmission? How does the concern apply elsewhere?
13. The novel describes property damage, including the burning of businesses, during social protests. Notably, businesses marked "black owned" often are spared (p. 396). However, Starr, as angry as she is about the grand jury's refusal to indict the police officer who shot her friend, narrates, "I'm just as pissed as anybody, but this . . . this isn't it. Not for me." Is Thomas herself taking a stance here or mainly trying to understand different people's thinking and emotions?
14. What is Thomas through the character of Hailey saying about the nature of racism? Does Starr respond appropriately? How do various characters in the novel exhibit racism in different ways?
15. One character analyzes gang culture in Harry Potter (p. 166–167). What does that say about how different people interpret artworks and about possible double-standards in how some people approach artworks from different cultures?
16. Different parties and media outlets present Khalil's death in radically different ways. What does this say about objectivity, bias, and media spin? How should journalists report relevant background while painting a fair larger picture? In what ways can omitted facts and unverified claims bias a story?
17. In the novel, the legal system fails Khalil. To what degree does Thomas intend this to be an indictment of the legal system overall? How pessimistic or optimistic should one be about the current system and the possibility for reform? What is the novel saying about how a person should respond to a failure of justice?
18. Starr's parents argue over whether to move out of the neighborhood. What responsibility does a person have toward his or her neighborhood and broader community? When should a person stay and fight for improvements and when should a person leave?