Angie Thomas
- In full:
- Angela Thomas
- Born:
- September 20, 1988, Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. (age 36)
- Notable Works:
- “Concrete Rose”
- “On the Come Up”
- ““The Hate U Give”
Angie Thomas (born September 20, 1988, Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.) is an American writer whose first young-adult (YA) novel, The Hate U Give (2017), debuted at number one on The New York Times bestseller list, launching her to international fame. In the novel, Thomas tackles such volatile and timely subjects as racism, privilege, and police brutality.
(Read Britannica’s essay on “12 Contemporary Black Authors You Must Read.”)
Early life and education
Thomas grew up in an economically depressed African American neighborhood in Jackson, Mississippi. At an early age she was exposed to drug dealing and gun violence and found refuge in books. As a teenager Thomas performed as a rapper and appeared in Right On!, a teen magazine devoted to African American celebrities. She went on to study creative writing at Belhaven University in Jackson, where she received a bachelor of fine arts degree in 2011.
The Hate U Give
The Hate U Give grew out of a short story that Thomas wrote as a student in 2009 following the killing of Oscar Grant. The unarmed 22-year-old African American man was fatally shot in the back by a white police officer on a Bay Area Rapid Transit platform in Oakland, California. As the murders of unarmed Black men and boys—including Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice (all 2014)—continued to make headlines, Thomas was inspired to revisit and expand the story while working as a secretary to a bishop. She submitted the novel to the nonprofit organization We Need Diverse Books, which awarded her one of its five inaugural Walter Dean Myers grants in 2015. The following year the manuscript was the subject of a bidding war between 13 publishing houses, ultimately being acquired by HarperCollins. In 2017 The Hate U Give was published to critical and popular acclaim. It was the recipient of many awards, including the 2017 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for fiction, and was named a Coretta Scott King Honor Book in 2018. A movie based on the novel was released in 2018 to positive reviews.
The book tells the story of 16-year-old Starr Carter, an African American girl who lives in a poor neighborhood and goes to a private school in a wealthy, predominantly white suburb. Each day, Starr “code-switches”—the practice of shifting one’s style of speech, behavior, or expression, often in order to fit in or to make others feel more comfortable. The gap between her home life and her school identity is further widened when Starr witnesses a white police officer shoot and kill her friend Khalil. She later learns that Khalil was unarmed but may have been a drug dealer. The rest of the story follows Starr as she navigates shock, grief, and betrayal and finally finds empowerment. Although Thomas hoped that the book would have universal appeal, she wanted it to be authentic. Hence, The Hate U Give does not shy away from using provocative language or from incorporating characters who are drug dealers and gang members.
Later YA novels
Thomas followed up with On the Come Up (2019). The YA novel examines issues such as poverty, double standards, racism, and resilience by exploring the life of Brianna, a 16-year-old girl who wants to be a rapper and lift her family out of poverty. One of the songs that she performs at a freestyle rap battle goes viral, and Brianna gets a chance to record more music but only if she plays into stereotypes and takes on an angry Black woman persona. Thomas’s sophomore outing received excellent reviews, with Kirkus stating: “the rawness of Bri’s narrative demonstrates Thomas’ undeniable storytelling prowess as she tells truths that are neither pretty nor necessarily universally relatable.” The novel was adapted into a movie in 2022.
In 2021 Thomas released Concrete Rose, a prequel to The Hate U Give. The book revolves around Maverick Carter, a 17-year-old high schooler whose father is serving time in prison. To help support his mother, Maverick sells drugs for a gang called the King Lords. When Maverick finds out that he has a child, he tries to leave the gang, an endeavor that proves to be harder than he expected. The New York Times praised the novel, saying:
Thomas casts a loving eye on the lives and realities of Black people, which is a powerful continuation of one of her most moving endeavors as a writer: her challenge to readers to affirm the goodness of all types of characters and to greet them with compassion at every turn, no matter where those turns may lead.
(Read W.E.B. Du Bois’s 1926 Britannica essay on African American literature.)
Other works
Thomas made her middle-grade debut in 2023 with the publication of Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy, the first of a planned fantasy trilogy that draws from African American history and folklore. In this origin story, the title character teams up with her best friend to clear the name of her father, a master wizard in a clandestine league called the Remarkables who has been accused of a crime he did not commit. The book was greeted with critical praise.
In addition to her fiction books, Thomas also wrote a guide to writing stories, Find Your Voice (2020). Geared toward middle-school children, it offers tips and writing exercises to help readers come up with ideas for stories and to create believable characters.