Read for my literary tribalism class.

I've read this book once or twice before, but I think I was too young to really understand the importance of this novel. I read it, and then never thought another thing of it. Today, though, this book sits at the back of my mind at all times. The continuous cycles of injustice are incredibly unfair, and this book shows that in ways that leaves no ambiguity. There isn't pretty prose to cover it up. 

Starr's experience with trauma is so clear and guttural that it is almost impossible to read at times, but I feel like it should be a requirement for everyone to read, especially for non-Black people. No one understands the oppression of another until they are forced to experience it, even indirectly. 

I think this novel is one of the most important novels in history, but, as it is a YA, I still think it has its problems

Starr is incredibly well-spoken in all of her interviews and protests in ways that seem unrealistic. She had no practice for her speech at the protest at the end of the book, nor for her television interview, yet she never stumbled. She said the most provocative things, with no training. Another issue I had is with Hailey, specifically the scene where Starr punches her. It felt too right of timing and too much of a perfect moment of closure for Starr. It all just seemed to perfect. My final problem with this novel is the way it praises Chris for doing the bare minimum as a white man. As him and Hailey are the only two prominent white people in the novel, it is clear Thomas is trying to show that not all white people are like Hailey. There are some like Chris too. It just feels too much like praising men for being people.