Author Of 'The Hate U Give' Is Tackling American Prison System In New Book

“The Hate U Give” gave audiences valuable insight into police brutality in the United States. Now, author Angie Thomas is taking readers back to the world of Garden Heights but 17 years earlier.

Her new novel, “Concrete Rose” tells the coming-of-age story of the main character Starr’s father Maverick from “The Hate U Give.” It details his life as a black man navigating his own relationship with his father and learning how to become one himself at only 17.

“Being a black woman in this country, it honestly fuels me even more to write my stories as authentically as possible,” Thomas told People.

While the last novel tackled police brutality, “Concrete Rose” will deal with the prison system and families that are separated because of it, particularly what it means for the children in an effected family to suddenly lose “ someone who was a provider.”

“A thing that I definitely touch on in the novel is the prison system and the fact that Maverick’s father is in prison,” Thomas said.

Thomas is excited for readers to learn more about Maverick’s past, because of all the characters she’s written, “who really just stayed with me, Maverick was at the top of that list.” She was inspired to tell Maverick’s story after talking to “young real life Mavericks” who are sometimes negatively stereotyped for growing up in a situation that was out of their control.

“They’re never seen as [having] potential, they’re only seen as being at risk,” she said.

Because of the heavy nature of “Concrete Rose” Thomas expects this story to be forbidden in schools more so than “The Hate U Give” which was banned in various school districts across the country, according to Entertainment Weekly.

But Thomas doesn’t care.

“…Nobody wants to talk about teen sex, nobody wants to talk about teen pregnancy or teen parents. But he’s amongst us every single day and it’s something that we cannot ignore, ” Thomas said. “And I’m going to keep writing it and my publisher is still going to publish it. Why? Because there are young people who need this story… Your discomfort is not my problem. My concern is for those young people who need this [book].”

Thomas’s “Concrete Rose” will be published Jan. 12, 2021 by HarperCollins.