Crucial, thoughtful and inciting. The Hate U Give is young adult fiction but speaks to everyone and implores you to not just hear but truly listen.

Starr Carter is a 16-year-old black girl from Garden Heights, a rough neighbourhood in the projects. Despite her young years, she has seen her fair share of racial inequality and injustice, starting with the shooting of her childhood friend, Natasha and more recently, the murder of her best friend, Khalil.

The racially charged shooting of yet another one of her friends by a white police officer will force Starr to confront with her most powerful weapon of all in the face of oppression; her voice.

This book is the perfect articulation of racial stereotyping, internalised racism and pandering to white standards. It doesn't shy away from discussing the onslaught of protests and resistance and more importantly, the larger issue still at hand, conducive to black anger and thug life.