The Impact of Angie Thomas

Angie Thomas holding The Hate U Give

Angie Thomas is from Jackson, Mississippi (3). She previously was a rapper, known as Young Short-A. "I look at writing as being a form of activism. Sometimes they'll show us a side of the world that we might not have known about," (2). She is from a state that is heavily rooted in Civil Rights. We can see she channel this in her writing.

Social injustice is seen in many of Thomas's books including The Have U Give, Concrete Rose, and On the Come Up. In these books Angie has you follow characters that go through racism in different way. The books also show you how they face and combat this racism.

Cover of Concrete Rose (4) 

The Hate U Give

After the release of The Hate U Give Angie Thomas was highly praised for her raw portrayal of modern racism. Receiving rewards such as #1 New York Times bestseller and her book turned into a film directed by Amandla Stenberg and George Tillman Jr. (2).  A review in The Atlantic they commended how the book is "incisive and engrossing" viewing the perspective of a black teenage girls life and community (6). Book Marks gathered a group of reviewers and they praised Angie for creating a book bringing awareness to Black Lives Matter and police brutality without sounding preachy. They state Angie balances heavy trauma with humor and pop culture (7).  After The Hate U give was published and did so well Thomas published a prequel called Concrete Rose. Time critic says Concrete Rose is as just as powerful, but this book also includes manhood (4).

Cover of On the Come Up (5)

On the Come Up

Two years after her release of The Hate U Give she released her book On the Come up. It earned earned New York Times #1 best seller and got turned into a Paramount film (2).  This book talks about a girl wanting to be a rapper is is faced and seeing the dark side of the industry, having to be forced into an angry black women stereotype (8). Kirkus Reviews focuses on how the book corroborates voices in hip-hip, specifically females, letting the story tell us how racial stereotypes do not fit into one catagorie. They also called the book a "musical love letter that proves literary lightning does indeed strike twice" (8). Critics in The New York Times applaud Thomas for once again successfully writing about heavy topics such as racism, addiction, and racism (9).

Personal Reflection

Before doing research on Angie Thomas I always have had interest in reading The Hate u Give. Now that I have learned more about her background and the meaning behind these books to her, I want to read them even more. I have learned this is her real life as a black women and she is using her voice to bring light to all of these racial issues happening everyday (2). I have also learned she brings light to other issues she may not face directly, such as the toxic masculinity touched on in Concrete Rose (4). Overall i really enjoyed learning about Angie Thomas and plan on taking time to read her books!

 Work Cited 

(1)  Press, The Associated. “Angie Thomas Writers Scholarship to Be Awarded for 2nd Time.” The Seattle Times, The Seattle Times Company, 8 Jan. 2021, www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/angie-thomas-writers-scholarship-to-be-awarded-for-2nd-time/.

(2) Thomas, Angie. “About.” Angie Thomas, 16 May 2026, angiethomas.com/about/.

(3) CBS Mornings. “Angie Thomas Returns with New Book in ‘Nic Blake and the Remarkables’ Trilogy.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 Sept. 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=FErx4uYXGJY&t=132s.

(4) Natera, Cleyvis. “Concrete Rose Review: Angie Thomas’ The Hate u Give Prequel.” Time, Time, 24 Feb. 2026, time.com/5928689/concrete-rose-review-angie-thomas/.

(5) “On the Come Up.” Goodreads, Goodreads, www.goodreads.com/book/show/35887567-on-the-come-up. Accessed 17 Sept. 2026.

(6) Webmaster, CLA. “Black History Month: Ya Reading List - English: Colorado State University.” English, 27 Feb. 2018, english.colostate.edu/2018/02/black-history-month-ya-reading-list/.

(7) Wheatle, Alex, et al. “All Book Marks Reviews for the Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.” Book Marks, bookmarks.reviews/reviews/all/the-hate-u-give/. Accessed 17 Sept. 2026.

(8) Hibler, Joan. "Angie Thomas". Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 Sep. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Angie-Thomas. Accessed 17 September 2026.

(9) Valby, Karen. "In Angie Thomas’s ‘On the Come Up,’ a Young Rapper Finds Her Way." The New York Times, 5 Feb. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/books/review/angie-thomas-on-the-come-up.html.