Students from across Rhode Island have voted The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas as the winner of the 2019 Rhode Island Teen Book Award.
The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas is about sixteen-year-old Starr Carter who moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. As questions surface about the events of the night, Starr, the only person alive who can answer them, must wrestle with what it means to tell her story.
There were two Honor Books: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds about a fifteen year old boy who encounters ghosts on his way to avenge his friend's death and The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater, about the true story of an episode of bullying gone terribly wrong.
You can see the list of all the 2019 nominees here.
In addition to announcing the 2019 RITBA winners, the committee also shared the current nominees for the next RITBA award. You can see them here:
Voting for this winner of this batch will take place in early 2020 and may of these titles are available in the US Prescott Library. You can also find current and past RITBA lists on this Prescott Library RITBA LibGuide.
Happy Reading!