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  • The Hate U Give

  • Written by: Angie Thomas
  • Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
  • Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (1,330 ratings)

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The Hate U Give

Written by: Angie Thomas
Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
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Publisher's Summary

Eight starred reviews ∙ William C. Morris Award Winner ∙ National Book Award Longlist ∙ Printz Honor Book ∙ Coretta Scott King Honor Book ∙ Number-One New York Times Best Seller!

"Absolutely riveting!" (Jason Reynolds)

"Stunning." (John Green)

"This story is necessary. This story is important." (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

"Heartbreakingly topical." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

"A marvel of verisimilitude." (Booklist, starred review)

"A powerful, in-your-face novel." (The Horn Book, starred review)

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.

And don't miss On the Come Up, Angie Thomas's powerful follow-up to The Hate U Give.

©2017 Angela Thomas (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers
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What the critics say

"[Narrator Bahni] Turpin's portrayals of all the characters are rich and deep, environments are evocatively described, and Starr's fraught struggles to understand life's complexities are believable." (AudioFile)

Editorial Review

Was it thug life, drugs, poverty, or simply the colour of his skin that was the death of Khalil? Only his childhood friend Starr holds the terrifying and dangerous answers in The Hate U Give.

Fall in love with this powerful and moving story, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Poignant, topical, and very real, this raw and honest story will stir something within you. Thomas writes a strong statement about the treatment and discrimination against Black people and African Americans within the U.S. It sheds light on an issue that has rocked North America and western countries for years. The story of 16-year-old Starr Carter, and her best friend Khalil’s death as the result of police brutality, hits home for so many, both within the Black community and outside of it.

Thomas uses the character of Starr to expertly depict the dichotomy and imbalances within society, holding the Black neighbourhood up against her private school world to show the imbalance inherent in this society. This story of one Black girl's experience and how she takes back her power is a riveting, powerful young adult novel that sends an even more important message to listeners.

Whether you are familiar with the film adaptation of the story - which features actors Amandla Stenberg (Starr), K.J. Apa (Chirs), and Regina Hall (Lisa), or if you're diving into the story for the first time, The Hate U Give is an absolute must-listen. This New York Times best seller brings all the emotion, sharing a strong message and a moving story at the same time. Bahni Turpin narrates and delivers all the strength and power this story needs, bringing it to the next level. Not just for high school kids, this is a strong message that should be heard by all.

Featured Article: Best Audiobook Narrators for an Immersive Experience

Audiobooks have revolutionized the literary world, opening up classic books to a whole new generation of listeners. It isn't just as simple as committing a great story to tape and letting the tale do the rest, of course, it isn't. In this new and exciting world, an audiobook is only as good as its narrator. A bad voice can drag a good story down, while a great voice can lift good stories. Luckily for listeners across the world, there is no shortage of fantastic voices in the Audible library, filling classic and contemporary stories with character, charm and glee. These are the very best audiobook narrators going today.

What listeners say about The Hate U Give

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I loved this book.

I was mesmerized from the first paragraph, and both the reading and the book were so well-done I constantly forgot it wasn't non-fiction being read by its author. Terrific.

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A must read /listen

A great read and or listen for all ages. As a middle school teacher I will definitely recommend this to students and teachers.
Thank you for this Angie Thomas.

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so good

well written and well read. they picked the best possible voice actor. I was so happy with it.

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Must read!

Everything about this story is heartbreaker and beautiful. White families with young teens should definitely read this and open a discussion on racism and white Privilege.

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The Hate U Give Bests YA Tropes with Authenticity

The young adult genre has long been a place of uneven quality. While Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games blasted the genre into the stratosphere in the first decade of this century, young adult novels have since struggled to find new grooves into which to impress their particular brand of storytelling. 

The Hate U Give breaks this trend by telling a story that isn’t just modern and real but prescient and authentic. The term “ripped from the headlines” might be a bit of a cliche but that is the general, uneasy feeling that a story like this fills the reader with as they make their way through Angie Thomas’ debut novel. 

There are no witches or wizards here, no fantasy setting to couch this struggle in, and no comfortable metaphors to hide its monsters behind. The Hate U Give is a book of racial injustice, systemic corruption, and a society that has grown so used to these problems that it ignores them rather than dealing with them.

Their is an intense anger at the heart of this story, and its righteous fury can’t help but seep its way into the reader over the course of the book. A tale of an unarmed black teen shot dead by a police officer is, unfortunately, a tale we’ve gotten very used to seeing and reading. 

This is where The Hate U Give is able to succeed, however, where so many of its fellow young adult efforts feel tired and stale. This is a novel that feels lived in, filled with anecdotal elements that expand upon the simple cultural place that “the hood” has filled in so many other stories, both literary and otherwise.

The Hate U Give is practically designed, by its very nature, to be a serving plate for moral platitudes to be absorbed by a younger audience. Instead of giving into this easy method of framing these issues, though, Thomas’ novel dives deep into the history of Black America, drawing upon this rich and troubling expanse in order to inform readers that this isn’t a simple story of police corruption or a failure of municipal accountability, it’s an issue that lives and breathes in a society that has always weighed the comfort of the majority over the needs of the few.

Like the setting and nature of The Hate U Give, its characters are deeply diverse in turn. Again, the young adult genre too often draws such clear lines between its mustache twirling villains and its gallant, selfless heroes that there is very little room for morally grey subtext. Here the Haileys and Kings of the story may fit comfortably into antagonistic boxes of some kind but they aren’t the real problem that this novel is trying to address -- the society that created them is. 

Similarly, the protagonists of the story are filled with flaws. They often make mistakes, acting out or behaving inappropriately while trying to deal with the overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and injustice with which they’re struggling. Even the most likable and relatable characters in The Hate U Give make cultural mis-steps or allow themselves to become victims of their prejudice, whether it be of an ethnic group, a point of view, or a lifestyle. 

This knack for realism, for how people, particularly young people, truly are, rather than a thinly written facade of how we think people are or wish they were, is a major strength at the heart of The Hate U Give. Like Stephen King, Angie Thomas hasn’t forgotten what it was like to be a teenager, and it shows in the way her teenagers speak and interact with one another. 

Thomas’ teens swear, they make crass jokes, they gossip and they give into their rebellious desires to act out their frustration. They aren’t wise beyond their years or prescient to a degree that feels inauthentic, their just kids on their way to adulthood, and very troubled by the world that they’re slowly graduating their way into.

This, ultimately is the strength and power at the heart of The Hate U Give. Thomas takes a story we’re all very familiar with and frames it through the people who are affected by it most deeply. We’re used to seeing these stories on TV or online but what we don’t see is the blowout that follows these tragic events, rippling throughout the lives of all those who surround the victim. 

Couched as it is in the YA genre, this achievement is all the more striking and relevant. Too often YA novels are oversimplified as to be easily digestible by their target audience, and when ethics and morals do rear their heads, they’re either too corny and out of touch to make an impact or too obvious to be of any real substance. 

The Hate U Give is truly a one of a kind read for this knife’s edge walk it manages to perform over the course of its story, and because of this it should be made more readily available in high schools, not less. Notably banned in Texas, The Hate U Give may be an uncomfortable read, and one filled with the need to question authority figures, but in a society this corrupt and flawed, kids oughta be equipped with the ability to hold those in charge accountable and demand change where change is required. That’s how we get free thinkers, that’s how we get strong leaders, and, most importantly, that’s how we give young people not just a voice, but a reason to raise that voice.


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Provides a unique perspective.

The reader did a great job and it was an easy read. It provides a side that you don't normally hear when you hear about protests and the murder of black men.

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Important read

This should be required reading for everyone young and old. Timely and timeless - This story will move you.

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Inspiring story!

Loved it! It took me a while to finish it not because I didn't like it, but because it was so raw. Makes you think of what you have to do when it comes to injustice.

The narrator was amazing in conveying the character's feelings and emotions!

The highlight, for me, of the book is "Your voice is your weapon"!

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A Must Read for Everyone!

A trajic story of injustice filled with love, hope and community. We must together take a stand.

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This book is everything!

I have never felt such a full gamut of strong emotion from a book . I cried, laughed, yelled, and cried some more. I fell in love with this family and my heart broke and it soared!
The narration was stunning and had me every single second. The bang, bang, bang nearly stopped my heart.
I will remember this read/listen for the rest of my life.

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