The young-adult book by Angie Thomas is a best-selling novel that shows racism and police violence through the eyes of an African American teenage girl.

Living what it seems to be a double life, Starr Carter is caught having to balance her two different worlds. The girl from the projects and the girl who attends a almost all-white private prep school, in the suburbs.

Living in Garden Heights Carter has been through many tragic  events during her 16 years of living. At the age of 10 she witnessed her own best friend’s life being taken due to gang related activity.

Six years later she loses another close friend, Khalil, due to being shot by a cop.

After being the only witness at the night of the shooting, Carter is overwhelmed with having to testify in front of a grand jury and speaking out in Khalil’ s memory. Stuck in the middle, her two worlds are beginning to crumble. Speaking out for Khalil means revealing her true identity to her prep friends, a black girl from the ghetto. Keeping quiet means her life remains “normal” but guilt will linger within her.

Throughout the trial, law enforcement and the white public all side with the officer who shot Khalil. Being unarmed and faced as not a threat, the trial causes a massive uproar throughout the Garden Heights community. Khalil’s case just like many other African American teens have been misinterpreted by the law because of their stereotypical identities.

Fighting for justice, Carter does everything she can to win Khalil’s case and make a change for all black youth.

This book is genuinely soul stirring and reveals what activism and speaking out what can do. Thomas wants to appeal to more than race, she also wants to appeal to a range of ages across the board.

In an interview with Cosmopolitan she explained, “‘Young adult’ is a critical age, and I knew that if I showed Starr going through these types of things, I could provide a mirror for some young adults and a window for adults—a lot of [whom] read young adult books—who might bring open hearts to a story that I told from her perspective, when they might normally look at a topic like this and say, ‘No.’”

Those who read this book will connect with Starr and understand entrenched prejudice.