In the young adult novel, Staar, a sixteen year old African American girl has now lost two of her friends to gun violence. When Staar was 10 her friend was killed by a gang drive by in the neighborhood. Her second friend was shot and killed by the police when she was 16. Staar is there to witness them both and is now traveling through all of the emotions again. She is living between to worlds going to a rich school while living in poor neighborhood and is struggling to decide whether she should speak out or stay quiet.

This novel is one of the best out right now. The novel has great characterization. You are able to understand all the characters. In the novel you're able to put yourself in Staar’s shoes as she experiences everything after her second friend’s death. The plot in the novel is very easy to flow even though she does have a lot of flashbacks. The theme of the novel is very insightful and eye opening. The book is not happy and cliche. It is a about a topic that happens in society a lot right now.

Like one of the quotes in the novel,“They finally put a sheet over Khalil. He can’t breathe under it. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe” (Thomas 26). It makes a worldly connection to the last words of Eric Garner before his death starting the movement of Black Lives Matter. He kept telling the officers he wouldn’t breath.

Another connection I had was when Khalil said,“ ‘ Pac said Thug life stood for The Hate U Give Infant F***s Everybody’” (Thomas 168).  My dad told me the quote when I was having trouble accepting myself as person that certain people may act prejudice towards because of my skin color.

I don’t recommend this book for everyone. The Language in this book is very strong so it wouldn’t be a children's book. I recommend this book more for teenagers than any other age group, but others can read it.