The Author that is Angie Thomas

 Angela Thomas 

    Angela (Angie) Thomas is an African American writer who conveys her thoughts about racial profiling and violence through storytelling. All of her writings are focused on racial injustice and the effects prejudice has on not only the people directly affected but the people that surround them as well. 

Growing up Angie Thomas 

Angie was born on September 20th 1988 and is 37 years old. She was born in Jackson Mississippi in an economically depressed African American community.(2) This gave her an early insight to racial prejudice, as well as rapping. She had a short lived rapping career known by many names. Her most famous name being Young Short-A. (1) She was featured in Right On! Magazine, a teen magazine for up and coming rappers, this is her first time in the spotlight but not her last.  

While studying creative writing at Belhaven University she refined her love for story telling and activism. (2) It is apparent through her later works that her time at Belhaven was well spent. 

Books Books and Movies 

The Hate U Give 

The Hate U Give released in 2017 is arguably her most popular book and was adapted into a movie in 2018. While she didn't cast or produce the movie she did have creative input on the film. The movie was in the works almost two years before the release of the book. Causing some subtle as well as not so subtle differences between the two. (1) 

The Hate U Give movie poster 

The Hate U Give book cover 

  

In 2009 while Angie was in college she wrote a short story following the murder of an unarmed 22 year old man, Oscar Grant.(2) Yes, this was the motivation for her short story and also the eventual creation of The Hate U Give. 

She also used themes from rapper, Tupac's,  songs. He was a big influence in her life as well as rapper Biggie. Following her acception of the Walter Dean Myers grant in 2015. Angie was apart of a 13 publishing house bidding war in 2016. (2) This kick started her career to another level and is one of the reasons she is where she is today. 

The Hate U Give follows a young teen, Starr, growing up in a impoverished town called Garden Heights. Starr is faced with many challenges based off of her family's race. She goes to a private high school out of town where she is forced to "code switch." She feels like she can't be herself at this high school because of the racial prejudice she would face. 

Her close friend Khalil Harris is unjustly murdered by a police officer. Starr and Khalil are driving and get pulled over, the event escalates and Khalil gets out of the car. He pulls out a hairbrush and the police officer then shoots and kills him. We see Starr navigate this tragedy, and how she balances her once separate lives clashing. The book revolves around gang violence, racial prejudice, racial profiling and family loyalty. 

The Hate U Give title comes from an acronym that rapper Tupac describes as, T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E, The Hate yoU Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody. This means how you treat younger children is going to affect everyone, not just the people directly involved. The story highlights a vicious cycle that Tupac helped bring to light. 

Concrete Rose 

Concrete Rose Book Cover 

 

Concrete Rose is a prequel to The Hate U Give. It follows Starr's father, Maverick (Mavs), life growing up as a teen father and gang member.  While I have not read the book it looks interesting and gives insight on more of why Starr navigates life the way she does. A movie to this book is also in the works and is now being produced by Angie unlike The Hate U Give. (1)

 

Other Works 

Angie has written multiple other books, some even include graphic novels and are tailored towards children instead of young adults. Black Out, White Out and Break Out are apart of a trilogy that she co wrote with other young adult novelists. To add to The Hate U Give and Concrete Rose universe is a newer novel titled On the Come Up.  She also published a writers guide for new writers called Find Your Voice.  She has begun her journey in the graphic novel world while also keeping the same themes as her other works, there are currently two books in this series and they are titled, Nic Blake and the Remarkables The Manifestor Prophecy and Nic Blake and the Remarkables The Book of Anansi. (1) 

Literary Review 

A meaningful quote from Angie Thomas

I wanted to focus on a Literary Review that deals with the main idea of her books, that is racial injustice. The literary review Whitewashing through Film talks about how The Hate U Give was written by a black author with the main character being a black teenager. (3) It sheds light on the fact that the movie was written and directed by a white woman in hollywood.

The writers note that while there are most always differences between books and the movies adapted from them, some have noticed it becomes more obvious when the race of the author and director are different. (3) This is known as "racial ventriloquism" it means the movie became distorted due to the change from the original black-authored narrative to white-authored narrative.

Overall Thoughts 

I have been following Angie's story since I read The Hate U Give for a project in middle school. I love her growth as a writer, author, rapper and producer. I have only read The Hate U Give once but have watched the movie many times, it definitely shaped me as a person and how I view different scenarios. I came into writing this blog with some knowledge on her already, however I have learned so much more than I thought. I am not much of a reader but I can now say she is my favorite author, I look forward to reading her other works and encourage you to do the same! 

Here is the link to her personal website if you are interested in a deeper dive! Angie Thomas

Work Cited

1. Thomas, Angie. Angie Thomas, Moxie Design Studios , 18 Sept. 2026, https://angiethomas.com/ 

2. Hilber , Joan. “Angie Thomas | Biography, Books, the Hate U Give, & Facts | Britannica.” Angie Thomas American Author , 16 Sept. 2026, www.britannica.com/biography/Angie-Thomas.

3. Dowie-Chin, Tianna, et al. “Whitewashing through film: How educators can use critical race media literacy to analyze Hollywood’s adaptation of Angie Thomas’ The hate u give.” International Journal of Multicultural Education, vol. 22, no. 2, 31 Aug. 2020, pp. 129–144, https://doi.org/10.18251/ijme.v22i2.2457.