Important Lessons

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

I knew going into this book that this post was going to be hard to write. Not because the book is sad because it is that, for a variety of reasons. No, this was going to be hard to write because I am a middle-aged, white woman and this book is about a white police officer unnecessarily killing an unarmed black teenager who wasn't doing anything wrong. Unfortunately, it seems the society we live in, there's a right and a wrong way to be, and even if we think we are right, we are most likely wrong. Even if we try very hard to love everybody for who they are and not the color of their skin, if you say just one thing wrong, you are villified forever. I don't want to be villified.

In fact, now that I am writing this, I don't think I am going to go into the premise of the book at all. All you need to know going into this book is that it is SO worth the read, and that the lesson to be gained is to always try to do the right thing. I can understand all the acclaim this book is getting, and I feel it is so well deserved. I hope it opens some eyes. I know it opened mine to things I hadn't considered before (and am ashamed for not noticing).

Instead, I am just going to urge you to read this one. It's going to make you angry; it's going to make you sad. If anything, I just want it to make you think.