The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Book Summary)

Purchase The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas via Amazon: https://amzn.to/3oYO30l

The story starts with Starr Carter attending a party at Garden Heights with her friend, Kenya. Kenya introduced Starr to her friends but was later on the left alone. Starr stood alone until Khalil approached her.

Khalil is Starr’s childhood best friend, but they haven’t seen each other for months. Starr noticed that Khalil is doing better – the way he’s dressed, his new shoes.. she’s not sure where he got the money from. Khalil’s mother is a crackhead, and they are living with his grandmother Rosalie. But Rosalie was recently diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy.

While Khalil & Starr talked, there was a commotion, and then they heard a gunshot. Scared, they ran away from the party. The two of them got inside Khalil’s car. They are not sure where they are going. They just wanted to get away from the party. While inside the vehicle, they listened to Tupac. Khalil told her about the meaning of THUGLIFE. He said it meant: The Hate U Give Little Infants F*cks Everybody. Suddenly, they were pulled over by a policeman. Starr made sure to remember the badge number: 115. Officer #115 asked for Khalil’s license, which he gave. Starr was scared, she remembered what her parents told her, so she politely followed the policeman’s orders. As for Khalil, he followed orders but wasn’t that polite. Khalil was asked to step out, and the policemen checked his pockets – after that, he went back in the car to ask Starr if she was alright, and then he was shot by officer #115.

The ambulance and other policemen came. Starr’s parents also came to pick her up. Nobody knows yet that she was in the car with Khalil the night he was killed – but someone saw her, and the police knew, so she was, later on, asked to make a statement.

She went to the theDetective’ss office and answered everything truthfully. Her identity was not disclosed. During Khalil’s funeral, Starr met Oprah, a lawyer, and activist who wants justice for Khalil.

Starr’s interview with the theDetectivee didn’t make any difference. Kenya convinced Starr that she’d need to speak up for Khalil (Kenya said that if it was the other way around, she’s sure that Khalil would fight for Starr.) Starr started a blog on Tumblr and posted pictures of Khalil. It reached hundreds of reblogs.

Starr also did an interview. Her lawyer (Oprah) helped her prepare for this.

In the interview, Starr again told the truth and revealed that the officer also pointed a gun at her. Her identity was not exposed. That interview got high ratings and received positive feedbacks.

After the interview, Starr went back to her everyday daily life. She attended prom with her (white) boyfriend, Chris. Chris was very cold towards her during the dance, but it was revealed that Chris watched Starr’s interview later on. Starr’s face was not shown, but Chris recognized her voice and her back. He is just hurt that Starr didn’t trust him enough to tell him what happened. They reconciled that night, Starr decided to open up to Chris. She told him what happened to Khalil and Natasha, who were killed at 10 years old. The killer was never caught.

As they talked in the car, they were interrupted by Seven, Starr’s brother (and Kenya’s), who asked them to go back to the party.

Starr’s interview gathered sympathy from many viewers, but it didn’t charge officer 115 yet. Starr agreed to be a witness to the grand jury. Once again, she answered every question truthfully. According to 115, he felt threatened because Khalil went back inside the car and said something that sounded like ‘I’m gonna ??? today”. Officer 115 also saw something that resembles a handgun – so that was why he shot Khalil. The truth was when Khalil went back to the car, it was just to ask, “Starr, are you okay?” and what the officer claims were a handgun – was just a hairbrush.

It took a long for the jury to give their decision. When the decision was announced, Starr, Chris, Seven, DeVante & Kenya were all in the car: Officer 115 would not go to jail. They were outraged that they decided to protest. Starr, Chris, Seven, and DeVante protested. It even came to the point where Starr stood on top of a policeman’s patrol car and made a powerful speech. When the policemen threw teargas at them, she threw them back.

When the riot got really bad, the four of them ran. DeVante could barely walk. He was the most injured because he was beaten by King Lord earlier that night. King Lord has been looking for DeVante because he stole from him. The night at the party where Starr & Khalil met, DeVante’s brother got shot. DeVante stole from King Lord because he needed money to send his mother and sister away to ensure they were safe. DeVante stayed/hid at Carlos’ house. Carlos is Starr’s Uncle, who is also a detective. DeVante suddenly disappeared that night as he was picked up by King’s men and was taken to their house to be beaten up. It was Kenya who called Seven for help.

In the middle of the riot, the four of them could get a ride at a truck. The truck was driven by goons who were willing to help. They ended up at Maverick’s grocery store. They got milk and poured it all over their face as a relief from the teargas. After getting milk, the goons and the reporter who tagged along left. It was just the four of them in the grocery now, and Starr was planning to call her mom from the store’s landline to tell her they were okay, but before she could do that, a flaming bottle was thrown at them, and the store was suddenly on fire. They were trapped. They don’t have the key to the doors.

The fire spread, but they saw Mr. Lewis outside. They screamed at him until they saw them. Starr’s parents also arrived and were able to open the backdoor. When they were all safe, they saw King and his guys across the street. He admitted that he set the store on fire. The police arrived, and Mr. Lewis tried to tell them that King set the store on fire; Maverick seconded – but the policemen said that if he didn’t see him do it, then it is not enough to send King to prison. Suddenly, the onlookers started saying that they saw King start the fire, so King ended up in prison. Since it will just be arson, King will be out of jail anytime soon – but DeVante decided to be a witness to tell the police what he knew about King’s drug deals.

The next day, Starr saw herself in the newspaper – there was a photo of her throwing the teargas can with the caption ‘witness fights back’. She is all over the news, and they admire her bravery.

The Carters, later on, went to the store to clean up what was left. There wasn’t much left. Every now and then, someone would honk and shout support. Later on, Mr. Lewis informed Maverick that he would be giving him his store since he would be retiring.

The End of The Hate U Gives by Angie Thomas.

 

Other details/scenes:

• • • Ayesha ended up with a concussion. She is Kenya & Seven’s mother, married to King. King has beaten her up.
    • Starr has two friends aside from Kenya – Maya & Hailey. They are from Williamson. Starr decided to let go of Hailey as her friend. They previously had a fight because Hailey was being racist.
    • Starr and her family moved away from Garden Heights into a new home but will continue/rebuild their grocery store.

 

List of Characters:

• • • Starr Carter – the main character, witnessed Khalil’s death
    • Khalil – the boy who got shot
    • Lisa Carter – star’s mom
    • Maverick Carter – Starr’s father
    • Seven – Starr’s half brother
    • Kenya – Starr’s friend, Seven’s sister. (Seven & Kenya share a mother while Seven & Star share a mother. Maverick had an affair with Ayesha.)
    • Carlos – Starr’s uncle, Lisa’s brother
    • Oprah – Starr’s lawyer
    • Chris – Starr’s white boyfriend
    • King – Drugdealer / Kenya’s father / Ayesha’s husband
    • Maya – Starr’s friend
    • Hailey – Starr’s friend
    • DeVante – troubled kid who Maverick & Carlos helped

Purchase The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas via Amazon: https://amzn.to/3oYO30l