Interview: Angie Thomas Wants To 'Mirror' Young, Black Readers

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News Commentary, Society & Culture, News, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 8.8K Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2019

⏱️ 34 minutes

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Summary

It's Tuesday. Sam chats with Angie Thomas, author of the best-selling young adult novel 'The Hate U Give' about her new book, 'On The Come Up.' They talk about both her books, about proving there's a huge audience for the black experience in young adult literature, and about moving on up — and why it's complicated. Email [email protected] or tweet @NPRItsBeenAMin with feels.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Angie Thomas came from one of the worst neighborhoods in Jackson, Mississippi.
0:04.6	All of us know about that one neighborhood in every major city is known for all the wrong reasons,
0:09.7	unfortunately, where you know you don't go there unless you have to go there.
0:15.0	But things have changed for her. She met a literary agent on Twitter. Then she wrote a little
0:20.5	bestseller called The Hate You Give. She's a big deal now and she's adjusting to a very different
0:26.7	life because I bought a house and I put my mom in the house with me. And even though I paid
0:30.7	mortgage, she'll get on me about my room and I'm looking at her as I say it.
0:35.1	Mom, you want to go on the mic? I have to give her a chance to offer some rubbettles.
0:39.6	Come on, mom. She's talking about looking at me. I'm looking at her too because my room is mess right now.
0:50.0	From NPR, I'm Sam Sanders. It's been a minute. My guest today is Angie Thomas. She is the author as
0:56.1	I said previously of The Hate You Give, the number one New York Times best-selling young adult novel.
1:03.2	This book tells the story of Star Carter, a 16-year-old girl grappling with the death of a friend
1:08.8	who was shot and killed while unarmed by a police officer. Now, Angie Thomas is out with her
1:14.5	second book. It's called On the Come Up. This one's all about a young girl named Bree,
1:19.2	who wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. But then one of her songs goes viral in a
1:24.4	very unexpected way. Angie and I talked about both of those books about how she is proving there's
1:30.1	actually an audience, a huge audience for black stories and young adult literature. And we talk
1:35.5	about how she's moved on up. And why that's a bit complicated for her. All right, here's Angie Thomas
1:41.6	and me. Angie was with her mom who was mostly there just to listen. They were in Jackson, Mississippi. Enjoy.
1:55.2	You write these epic rap battle scenes in the book. And I haven't like been transported into
2:04.7	the feel of a rap battle that expertly since like eight mile. It was really good. And I kept
2:12.5	thinking the whole time I was like, I bet you Angie Thomas has been in her own rap battle before.
	...

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