Yet her father, a reformed gang member, says speaking out shows how much she loves those she speaks for: “Reasons to live give reasons to die. She fears her neighbourhood will see her as a snitch, while her school friends consider her a charity case. She is painfully aware that telling people what she saw will change her in the eyes of everyone she knows. The first is the battle Starr goes through preparing to testify. The particularly American nature of its problems can also be distancing, but there are two points where Christians will especially find a connection. It’s a confronting portrait of the cycle of poverty, crime and prison that grinds down so many US communities. The Hate U Give is aimed at young adults, though there are heart-rending moments likely to move any family member. What will it be like at school? I’ve just got to stay quiet.” Starr now has to decide whether she will give evidence to a grand jury, and throw off her precariously balanced life: “Stuff like this ends up on the news. When he reaches for a hairbrush, the officer panics and shoots him three times. The African American teen is pulled over while driving her home. Nevertheless, Starr’s worlds collide when one of her childhood friends, Khalil, is killed by a white policeman. While at home she has to be careful not to be too Williamson because her “people” feel she’s pretending to be white. However, her parents have chosen to send her to a private, primarily white school called Williamson Prep because, as Starr puts it, “… the high school is where you go to get junk, high or pregnant.” The consequence is something of a double life.Īt school Starr has to be cautious not to be too “ghetto” because, though slang is hip for rich kids, for her it’s just a stereotype. It’s a poor, crime-ridden and predominantly black neighbourhood. In Starr’s case, her life has been enveloped by the hatred of others, and she is desperate to see that cycle broken.Īmanda Stenberg plays our 16-year-old lead, living in the fictional American suburb of Garden Heights. Well, they use a different F-word, but the message is the same: the anger we pour out on others enforces a cycle of sin that harms us all. The group’s name was an acronym for the assertion, “The Hate U Give Little Infants Fouls Everyone”. It takes its title from the hip-hop group THUG LIFE, featuring Tupac Shakur. The Hate U Give is based on Angie Thomas’ New York Times best-selling novel. Starr Carter, its young heroine, learns the painful truth that the hate we visit on others has a way of rebounding on all of us. Others wear their heart on their sleeves. The lessons from some films sneak up on you. Amanda Stenberg plays Starr, a young heroine learns the painful truth that the hate we visit on others has a way of rebounding on all of us.