#t.h.u.g.

[mobpublib]

Brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared. It means you go on even though you’re scared.

from The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

[lordofpages]

February JOMP BPC Day 3: Black Pride

[mamachonnes]

I will tell you everything. I will tell you everything and more. Khalil lost his mother to crack. Khalil loved to sing even though he couldn’t. Khalil ate at our house for five years. Khalil never cried. Khalil wanted to go to Egypt. Khalil kissed me twice, once on that night. Khalil didn’t own a gun. Khalil owned a hairbrush. Khalil died holding his hairbrush. And if Khalil was still alive, he would be graduating high school.

The Hate U Give (2018) dir. George Tillman Jr.

[shortkingwolfdad]

Todrick Hall really likes boys in sweatpants

[tinkitchenbooks]

The Hate U Give is groundbreaking and masterful in so many ways that it’s super easy to overlook the more subtle bits of literary badassness that Angie Thomas just slips in there.

Case in point - can we talk about the way Starr’s relationship with Chris is handled?

I don’t think we even see the kid until 15% into the book, and even once we meet him, he’s not around for the majority of chapters. Which makes perfect sense, because in Starr’s world, Chris is important, but he’s not the center of the universe. 

Having Starr date a white boy gives Thomas a great angle to dig into the more nuanced aspects of Starr’s self-identity. As they kiss or fight or make jokes, Chris helps the reader understand how Starr feels about being female, black, and poor in this context. These aren’t digressions! All of these elements directly tie to the major themes of the book. Starr’s reaction to Chris’ “suggestion” that they have sex, her feelings about Chris seeing her neighborhood or meeting her father or knowing about Khalil are all indispensable pieces of character building. 

But notice: those are all about Starr’s feelings. It’s Starr’s story, and that’s what the scenes of that relationship stay focused on. It isn’t a plot created to build romance; the romance is there to serve the story.  

All this to say that The Hate U Give proves that your female protagonist can have a serious relationship that is important to her that isn’t one of the primary foci of the story. You have more choices than either a world that revolves around the love interest or a completely celibate main character. Starr can care deeply about Chris and still pass the Bechdel test. When the stakes are life-and-death, maybe female characters don’t have to think about their boyfriends every single page. (Hint: we let male main characters do this all the freaking time, see every superhero movie ever.)

I have no problem with those shake-you-to-your-core, blindingly intense first love stories. Those are something YA is very well suited for. But it’s tremendously refreshing to read a relationship that isn’t such a freaking production. It’s also wonderful to read a male love interest who feels real, who isn’t just an adorkable bundle of endearing past trauma and niche literary taste. Chris can be a bit of a dick, and I love him for it. 

TL;DR- The Hate U Give is basically “how to write a male love interest as a secondary character and center the experience of your female protagonist even when she has a boyfriend” 101. 

[roadlesswandered]

guys i just saw the hate u give and i fucking sobbed holy shit go see it

[blackgirlnerds]

We Need to talk about 'The Hate U Give' (T.H.U.G.) - Black Girl Nerds

The Hate U Give is a debut novel by Angie Thomas and is heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. It’s also quite hilarious. So, what’s it about? Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter witnesses the death of her childhood friend Khalil when he’s shot by a police officer while also unarmed. She lives in Garden Heights but goes to …

[mamachonnes]

The Hate U Give (2018) dir. George Tillman Jr.