The New York Times bestselling young adult novel The Hate U Give has been selected as the 2018 book for the College of Charleston’s campus-wide reading program The College Reads!
Written by Angie Thomas and published in 2017 by HarperCollins, the book confronts institutional racism, personal prejudice, discrimination, gun violence, community coherence and family, social justice and activism through the eyes and first-person voice of a young adult.
Thomas will visit campus on Jan. 14, 2019, and spend the day meeting with students, faculty and staff. Her public lecture, “The Hate U Give: Finding Your Activism and Turning the Political into the Personal,” will take place at 7 p.m. on Jan. 14 in Sottile Theatre. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Listen to an audio interview with author Angie Thomas.
Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, The Hate U Give is a compelling coming-of-age story featuring Starr Carter, a 16-year old girl expertly occupying two worlds — she lives with her family in Garden Heights, a neighborhood where rival gangs keep most residents inside; she attends school at Williamson Prep, a suburban mostly white high school. When Starr is the only witness to her childhood friend Khalil’s fatal shooting by a white police officer, the boundaries she has crafted fray and she has hard choices to make.
The New York Times bestselling young adult novel The Hate U Give has been selected as the 2018 book for the College of Charleston’s campus-wide reading program The College Reads!
“We are very excited about this selection,” The College Reads! Committee said in its announcement. “The committee chose this book for several reasons. First, the committee wanted to support the QEP by selecting a book with a social justice theme. We read widely on the subjects of housing, poverty, rural isolation, ideological diversity, Hispanic and Native American issues, race, immigration, migration, unemployment, and political displacement/anger. In thinking about how a book might open conversations most important to students on our own campus, the committee’s interest solidified around themes of race, identity, and social justice. The Hate U Give is new and appears on several ‘best of’ lists for 2017. Angie Thomas is in high demand as a speaker.”
The book is the basis for a major motion picture scheduled for release this fall. The genre of the book is formally Young Adult literature, appropriate for age 14 to adult.
Faculty should have received a copy of the book in April. If any faculty did not receive a book email thecollegereads@cofc.edu. Incoming students will receive the book at orientation, accompanied by an interactive reading guide and convocation essay prompts.
Faculty may sign up to participate in Convocation scheduled for Monday, August 20, 2018 from 10-11:30 a.m. Professors Matthew Cressler and Renard Harris will lead the faculty development sessions prior to Convocation. There are several times to accommodate scheduling needs: Wednesday, August 15 (10-11:30 a.m.), Wednesday, August 15 (2-3:30 p.m.), and Thursday, August 16 (1-2:30 p.m.). All convocation faculty development sessions will be held in the Education Center Room 116.
Visit The College Reads website for more information.
