Angie Thomas

A former teen rapper, American author Angie Thomas became a household name with her debut novel, The Hate U Give – the title a reference to rapper Tupac Shakur.

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement the novel was championed by Waterstones from publication. Chosen as our Children’s Book of the Month in April 2018 the book went on to win the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize for 2018 and was also a Winner of the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year 2018 and was shortlisted for The 2018 CILIP Carnegie Medal.

THUG was adapted into a critically acclaimed film starring The Hunger Games’ actor Amandla Stenberg.