Blinkist: Serving curious minds.

Some stories are told too rarely; others, far too often. In her debut novel, The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas interweaves both unheard and over-familiar tales. When the police kill unarmed young Black men, much is said about their failings. The news cycles around two questions: what they did that they shouldn’t have done and what they didn’t do that they should have. That is the all-too-familiar story which is told when Khalil is shot by a police officer during a routine traffic stop. But Thomas also tells a less-often heard story. It’s the story of the community which mourns Khalil not because he was faultless, but because he lived. Because he had family and friends, hopes, ambitions, fears, and ideas. In bringing these strands together, Thomas doesn’t only craft a compelling and complex tale – she also holds a mirror up to the ethical and political failings of the society that fails to recognize and value the lives of men like Khalil.

Some stories are told too rarely; others, far too often. In her debut novel, The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas interweaves both unheard and over-familiar tales. When the police kill unarmed young Black men, much is said about their failings. The news cycles around two questions: what they did that they shouldn’t have done and what they didn’t do that they should have. That is the all-too-familiar story which is told when Khalil is shot by a police officer during a routine traffic stop. But Thomas also tells a less-often heard story. It’s the story of the community which mourns Khalil not because h