Angie Thomas is an American author of young adult fiction, best known for The Hate U Give, a novel about police violence and the Black Lives Matter movement. Born in 1988 in Jackson, Mississippi, she has become one of the most widely read writers on racism and inequality in the United States.
She grew up near the home of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, who was assassinated in 1963, and at the age of six she witnessed a shootout between gangs. The following day her mother took her to the library to show her that the world was far larger than what she had seen, and that experience pushed her toward writing. She studied at Belhaven University, a private Christian college in Mississippi, where she became the first Black student to graduate from its creative writing program.
Thomas first planned to write fantasy, but a professor encouraged her to write about her own experiences and the voices that had been left out of stories. The result was The Hate U Give (2017), shaped by cases such as those of Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin and Sandra Bland. Her second novel, On the Come Up (2019), returns to the same fictional world. Her books mix direct storytelling, young characters and a steady interest in the complexity of their communities. Her legacy lies in bringing the debate over police brutality to teenage readers and beyond.
Key works
- The Hate U Give (2017): the story of Starr Carter after her friend Khalil is shot by a police officer.
- On the Come Up (2019): a teen rapper who becomes a viral sensation and sees fame change who she is.
- Concrete Rose (2021): a prequel to The Hate U Give centred on Starr's father, Maverick Carter.
Curiosities
A title with an acronym
The Hate U Give comes from the acronym THUG LIFE, which Tupac Shakur had tattooed on himself. Thomas could not use the full phrase, which was too long and unsuitable for a young adult book.
A story that began small
The novel started as a short story before growing into a book. It debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list for young adult hardcovers.
Original Filopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.