"The Hate U Give" as a Book in the Classroom

 This book will always be one that is powerful, especially in the society that we live in today. Living in a world where there is civil unrest far more often than there should be, this book can help shed light on some of the issues that plague our country. In this book, Starr sees her friend get shot after they are pulled over. He does not have a weapon, and he does do what the officer asks reluctantly. Still, he is shot mercilessly and unjustly at the hands of a police officer. This book can really illuminate the fact that sometimes our society finds itself valuing human life less and less. There is not an excuse for the way that the scene is handled in the book, and in the rest of the story we see a community fighting for justice, and for the rights of their fellow people. Rights are not something that should be fought for, but something that is innately given to everyone. It is in our constitution, and yet there are people in our country fighting for their human rights every single day. This work can help students, specifically students who may have never seen or experienced anything to this extent, to see the harm that racism causes. This book puts us into the mind of Starr, who saw it all, and has to make a decision on whether she should speak out. Watching her go through this trauma and seeing her figure out how she needs to handle the situation will help students to have a deeper understanding of the fight for rights on our own soil. This book, of course, pairs greatly with the movie.