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| photo: Imani Khayyam | |
Angie Thomas is the award-winning author of The Hate U Give and On the Come Up. A former teen rapper who holds a BFA in creative writing, Thomas was born, raised and still resides in Mississippi. Thomas's third book for young adult readers, Concrete Rose, is a prequel to The Hate U Give and is available now from Balzer + Bray.
On your nightstand now:
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks. A brilliant middle-grade novel.
Favorite book when you were a child:
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. It was the first time I ever read a book I could identify with. The main character, Cassie, is a Black girl who lives in Mississippi--I was a Black girl who lived in Mississippi. The book had such a profound impact on me. In fact, I decided to name Starr's dad Maverick after reading a line in Roll of Thunder where Cassie described her mom as a "disrupting maverick."
Your top five authors:
Nikki Giovanni, Toni Morrison, Jacqueline Woodson, Jesmyn Ward, James Baldwin
Book you've faked reading:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee; Shakespeare's Hamlet; The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald... basically, most books I was assigned to read in high school. I wasn't a reluctant reader--there's no such thing. I was an uninterested reader. Once I was given books I actually connected with, I loved to read.
Book you're an evangelist for:
Anything that Rick Riordan writes, basically.
Book you've bought for the cover:
When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds. This was before I knew Jason and it was the first book I ever read by him. It was a wise decision.
Book you hid from your parents:
Hmm... not sure I ever hid a book from my mom. She's was always big on letting me read whatever I wanted to read, just as long as I was reading.
Book that changed your life:
Tyrell by Coe Booth. It gave me the courage to write as authentically as possible and to tell the stories of the young people I see every day.
Favorite line from a book:
"But I figure if the world were really right, humans would live life backward and do the first part last. They'd be all knowing in the beginning and innocent in the end." --The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
Five books you'll never part with:
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Native Son by Richard Wright
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling.