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JaneCowell
Aug 15, 2018JaneCowell rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This book is the 2018 Amnesty CILIP Honour winner in the Carnegie awards category for the UK and I found out about this book when her acceptance speech was tweeted about in my networks. If you have not seen it, it is well worth viewing here https://vimeo.com/275671847 Angie Thomas was inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and her book gives an honest, confronting representation of the casual racist discrimination and everyday violence faced by black people in America. Starr Carter is a young black teenager attending a ‘good’ school in a white neighbourhood while her family lives in a rundown, black neighbourhood. Her father owns the local store and her mother is a qualified nurse. Starr witnesses a friend gunned down by a white police officer and this is the story of the courage it takes to stand up - against injustice, against gang influence and to stand up and give voice to what is right when the mainstream media run an alternative story. It is also a story of accepting yourself, your emotions and taking joy in family when you can. It is confronting and has me questioning how we can all be more tolerant, what is racism and how can we all stand up and be counted when this racism is embedded in process and values. It is about to be made into a movie and the trailer can be seen here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MM8OkVT0hw