*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE* *October 10, 2018* *CONTACT* Karen Trout Coordinator, Reading Together Kalamazoo Public Library 269-553-7895 karent@kpl.gov *Kalamazoo Public Library - 2019 Reading Together Author:* *Angie Thomas: The Hate U Give* Kalamazoo, MI - Wednesday, October 10, 2018. Kalamazoo Public Library <http://www.kpl.gov/> is pleased to announce the Reading Together <http://www.kpl.gov/reading-together/> title for 2019: *The Hate U Give *by *New York Times* bestselling author Angie Thomas. Join us at Chenery Auditorium <http://www.cheneryaud.com/> on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, 7 pm to hear Thomas trace the development of her book—and in so doing, speak to the heart of race, activism and social change in America today. Admission is free and open to the public. The presentation will be followed by a book signing. Bookbug/this is a bookstore will sell copies of *The Hate U Give* at the event. Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter navigates between the poverty-stricken neighborhood where she lives and the upper-crust suburban prep school she attends. Her life is up-ended when she is the sole witness to the shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. As Starr finds herself even more torn between the two vastly different worlds she inhabits, she also has to contend with speaking her truth and, in the process, trying to stay alive herself. *The Hate U Give*—widely known as the first Black Lives Matter-inspired YA novel—has been a #1 *New York Times* bestseller for 70 weeks. Described as “the best—and most important—book of the year,” by *Entertainment Weekly*, it has already been adapted into a major feature film (Oct. 19), and Thomas’ hotly anticipated follow-up *On the Come Up (*Feb. 5) is generating buzz. Thomas’ keynotes resonate with the same authenticity, insight, and hope that make her book so powerful, and give context and background to the culture, politics, and movement that inspired it. Copies of *The Hate U Give* are now available at all five KPL locations <http://www.kpl.gov/locations-hours/>. *“Angie Thomas has written a stunning, brilliant, gut-wrenching novel that will be remembered as a classic of our time.”** – John Green, #1 NYT Bestselling Author of The Fault of our Stars.* *About the Author* Angie Thomas is the inaugural winner of the Walter Dean Myers Grant 2015, awarded by We Need Diverse Books. Born, raised, and still residing in Jackson, Mississippi—and a former teen rapper—she holds a BFA in Creative Writing from Belhaven University and an unofficial degree in hip hop. *About Reading Together* The purpose of Reading Together is to build a stronger community with deeper connections through the common experience of reading the same book and exploring its themes together. When we do that, we engage and learn, not only about ourselves, but more importantly about each other and the world around us. By experiencing the same book, hearing the author of that work speak right here in Kalamazoo, and examining the book’s themes through a local lens, we are able to embrace our similarities and differences from a common point of reference. Very simply, when we read together, we grow together. Learn more at www.kpl.gov/reading-together.