Quest to meet #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Angie Thomas

Angie Thomas in conversation with Nikesh Shukla

This evening I had the very great pleasure of listening to Angie Thomas talk about her book, THE HATE U GIVE, at Bristol's Watershed as part of her UK book tour. Angie's book was released in the US on 28th February 2017, the last day of Black History Month over there, and debuted at the top of the New York Times' YA best-seller list. I believe it's still going strong at #1 over a month later and has received huuuuge amounts of critical praise.

I first connected with Angie nearly two years ago via Twitter when we both entered The Writer's Voice. Angie entered with an Upper MG Fantasy and was selected onto Brenda Drake's team (I still have my spreadsheet with all the stats!). I am so thrilled that her writing dreams are coming true.

Here's the blurb about her book:

Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this is a powerful and gripping YA novel about one girl's struggle for justice. Movie rights have been sold to Fox, with Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games) to star.

Angie and me at the Watershed

Bought the book. Got my copy signed - yay!