![]() ![]() ![]() Thomas’s novel invokes the language of the modern protest movement Black Lives Matter, which grew in response to real-world incidents of police brutality. She has stated that she is deeply influenced by the work of Tupac Shakur, whose definition of the phrase “Thug Life” grants the novel its title. Thomas is a lover of hip hop briefly performed as a rapper as a teen. Upon publication in 2017, The Hate U Give became an immediate bestseller and won numerous accolades, including the Coretta Scott King Award. ![]() In 2016, the as-of-yet unpublished Thomas won an inaugural grant from the nonprofit We Need Diverse books. She also decided to focus specifically on a female protagonist in her debut novel, feeling that black girls’ experiences were too often overlooked by mainstream media and activism. Thomas has stated that her work initially focused on fantasy, but, following the encouragement of a professor, she decided to draw more heavily from her experience as a black woman in the southern United States. She began writing The Hate U Give as a senior project while studying creative writing at Belhaven University, a predominantly white college in her hometown. Angie Thomas was born in Jackson, Mississippi. ![]()
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