The Hate U Give

by Angie Thomas

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Chapters 10–12 Summary and Analysis

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Chapter 10 

On the way home from Carlos's house, a police roadblock stops the car. Lisa promises it will be fine, but Starr is reflexively terrified.

Later, Starr goes with her father to run errands, and they talk about oppressed minorities and why the government targeted the Black Panthers. Maverick asks why Starr thinks their neighborhood has so few opportunities that Khalil had to become a drug dealer, while Brenda is addicted to drugs. They agree that the system is still destroying the lives of those in their neighborhood and that things need to change, which is why the protests are breaking out. They cannot be silent.

Back at Maverick's store, DeVante knocks on the door even though it's closed. He says he just wants to buy some chips but lingers in the store until Maverick asks what he's really doing and if he's hiding from someone. DeVante admits that he's hiding from King, who wants him to kill the men who shot DeVante's brother, Dalvin, at Big D's party. He asks how Maverick escaped the drug game—which he became involved in early, as his father, now in prison, was a drug lord. Maverick says that he took a charge for King, and when he went to prison, he realized his father was a weak old man and that he didn't want his own children to grow up as he did. So, because he'd taken King's charge, he was allowed out of the gang.

Maverick says he will hire DeVante and help him stay in school and escape King. Later, they take DeVante home with them. Lisa asks whether Maverick really thinks it's sensible to shelter a boy hiding from King; Maverick says it's the only place King won't look for him. Lisa says she wants the family to move out of Garden Heights.

Chapter 11

Next week at school, Hailey says that she and some others will be protesting Khalil's death. However, she remarks that it seems "messed up" to be protesting the death of a drug dealer. Starr realizes Hailey cares more about skipping class than about Khalil, whom she seems to feel deserved to be shot. Chris asks if Starr is okay. In the middle of class, the group begins to chant "Justice for Khalil"; almost everyone leaves except Chris and Starr, who confesses that she knew Khalil.

At lunch, Jess, whose parents are lawyers, sits with Starr and Chris, as do Seven and Layla. They are all protesting the protest. After school, Sekani and Starr go to the store, where Maverick says some King Lords have pulled police officers out of their car in protest. Mr. Lewis, the barber, says on live television that King was responsible. A curfew has now been established in Garden Heights.

A police car arrives when Lewis and Maverick are arguing about his "snitching." One of the cops, who is Black, asks whether Maverick was harassing him. They demand to see Maverick's ID and then force him to lie down on the ground. A number of other people arrive while the Black cop is searching Maverick. Eventually they let him stand, and drive off. Afterward, Maverick is shaking and furious.

One of the gathered crowd lets slip that most of the neighborhood knows that Starr is the witness. When Kenya hears this, she asks why Starr has kept quiet about it, saying that Khalil would have gone on television to defend Starr in an instant. She says Starr could change the whole neighborhood simply by speaking out.

Starr tells her father she feels like a coward, but Maverick says the most...

(This entire section contains 1094 words.)

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important thing they can do is stay alive. He lives for his children.

Chapter 12

A tank drives past the house to enforce the curfew. Maverick asks Starr to give DeVante her old laptop, then asks if she's still mad at him about DeVante. Starr denies it.

She has started a blog featuring pictures of Khalil, mostly as a child. Soon, these pictures have hundreds of likes and reblogs.

Seven is now living with them full time, Iesha having thrown him out of the house. As the neighborhood’s unofficial tech support person, he checks the computer over before it is given to DeVante. Meanwhile, there is gunfire in the distance.

The district attorney calls the house, asking to speak to Starr. Starr agrees to talk to her, but Lisa says they should meet with Ms. Ofrah first.

Meanwhile, Maya, Hailey, and Kenya are all texting Starr, wanting to be friends again. Starr forgives Kenya, and when Chris texts, saying "love you," Starr says it back. She doesn't reply to Hailey and Maya.

Ms. Ofrah explains to Starr what will happen if she agrees to testify to a jury and answer the DA's questions. She says that one of the officers claims he mistook a hairbrush in the car for a gun. She also reveals that the officer's father will be interviewed on television that day, which upsets Starr. She feels she must make sure Khalil's side of the story is heard. 

Ms. Ofrah says she will make sure this happens and get Starr a television interview, and she will represent Starr pro-bono. Then DeVante, who has been keeping watch over Mr. Lewis, calls, and Maverick tells him to call 911. 

Analysis

The situation in Garden Heights worsens considerably during these chapters. Starr's relationship with her boyfriend, Chris, is deepening, but it is notable that her conversations with Chris remain light and superficial. Chris is still able to think about things like television shows, because the situation in Garden Heights does not affect him, even though he is trying his best to support Starr—unlike her friends Hailey and Maya. Chris does recognize the inanity of the "protest" the other white students launch, largely as a means of escaping class and without any real concern for Khalil and his situation, but he still cannot experience life as Starr lives it.

Meanwhile, in Garden Heights, it is made clear that the repercussions of Khalil's death are beginning to spiral and will continue to make themselves felt for some time. Starr has witnessed police brutality before, but now it has been brought home to her as the situation between the warring drug lords escalates and Maverick, despite having removed himself from the drug game, is still the victim of a police assault. While Lisa wants to remove her family from the neighborhood entirely, Starr becomes increasingly convinced that she needs to speak out for the Khalil she knew so that he does not become another statistic.

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Chapters 7–9 Summary and Analysis

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Chapters 13–15 Summary and Analysis

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