‘The Hate U Give’: Black Lives Matter Book Tops Best-Seller List

'The Hate U Give' by Angie Thomas, which has been inspired by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has topped the New York Times best-seller list for young-adult hardcover books this week, just a week after its release, according to the New York Times Book Review.

The novel has already been critically acclaimed and earned rave reviews from readers. Thomas is ecstatic and tweeted her reaction to the news yesterday:

The readers responded to the book positively and some even called it a "must read."

Thomas's book stars a sixteen-year-old protagonist named Starr Carter and discusses the two parallel lives that she is living — one in her poor neighborhood and the other in her fancy suburban prep school. However, Carter is shaken by the death of her childhood friend Khalil, who is shot at by a police officer. As Khalil's death becomes a national headline, protestors take to streets to call Kahalil a drugdealer, a thug among other things. While everyone questions the happenings of the unfateful night, Starr remains to be the only person with the answers. Starr and her family are blackmailed by the local drug lord and the cops. However, even if she speaks or not, it would still affect her life and her community.

Read: Black Lives Matter Toronto Co-Founder Calls White People 'Sub-Humxn'

The critics have been praising the book for its groundbreaking subject matter. According to the reviews on Amazon, Jason Reynolds called it "Absolutely riveting!," John Green said: "stunning," the Kirkus Reviews said: "This story is necessary. This story is important," Publishers Weekly called it "Heartbreakingly topical," and Booklist praised it by calling it "A marvel of verisimilitude."

The book has reached its peak of success as there are plans to turn the book into a film starring Hunger Games actor, Amandla Stenberg, according to New York Magazine.

Black Lives Matter movement was founded in 2012 by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, for what the organization terms as "the validity of Black life." It is also sometimes called an ideological reincarnation of the Black Panther movement that flourished in the '60s.

BLM was created in response to the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who murdered and manslaughtered a 17-year-old boy called Trayvon Martin. According to BLM, Zimmerman committed the crime as a result of the "virulent anti-Black racism" that "permeates our society" and continues to magnify "the deep psychological wounds of slavery, racism and structural oppression."