'The Hate U Give' a must read

Here’s some good news for 2018. Angie Thomas’ acclaimed young adult novel “The Hate U Give” (National Book Award longlist) is being made into a movie and filming has wrapped so it won’t be long now. Don’t wait until the story hits theaters. Read the book now. I had heard so many wonderful things about this book but, being a Louisiana book reviewer and Thomas hails from Mississippi, I had other books ahead of it on the to-be-read pile. For my December birthday, however, I made time for myself and bought the book. As I was checking out, the woman behind the counter spotted the novel and raved.

Yes, it’s that good.

Thomas places the volatile issue of police brutality in the African American communities in the point of view of Starr Carter, a 16-year-old girl who lives in a black neighborhood but attends Williamson, an upscale, predominantly white school. Her life’s an uneasy balance, where she volleys between two personalities depending on the location.

“Williamson Starr doesn’t use slang — if a rapper would say it, she doesn’t say it, even if her white friends do,” Thomas writes. “Slang makes them cool. Slang makes her ‘hood.’ Williamson Starr holds her tongue when people piss her off so nobody will think she’s the ‘angry black girl.’ Williamson Starr is approachable. No stank-eyes, side-eyes, none of that. Williamson Starr is nonconfrontational. Basically, Williamson Starr doesn’t give anyone a reason to call her ghetto.

“I can’t stand myself for doing it, but I do it anyway.”

One night, while driving home from a party with an old friend, the police stop their car and an altercation ensues while Starr is the witness. What happens next will turn Starr’s world upside down and force her to choose between what is safe and what is right.

Thomas’ book is not just an examination of injustice, one to argue over who’s right and who’s wrong. “The Hate U Gives” takes you inside the story, and for that perspective makes it a must-read book.

New releases

Arsene Lacarriere Latour was an impressive man of the 19^th century — an architect, military engineer, soldier and historian — but for the most part has remained unknown. Latour came to Louisiana by way of St. Domingue (now Haiti) and served alongside Gen. Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. He later wrote the first history of that famous battle and surveyed the Spanish southwest with Jean Lafitte. Author Jean Garrigoux relates Latour’s story in a new book out by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press. “A Visionary Adventurer: Arsene Lacarriere Latour 1778-1837: The Unusual Travels of a Frenchman in the Americas” uses information gleaned from international archives, plus Latour’s own words, to form a compelling biography.

Book events Jan. 21-28

Author Remy Wilkins discusses his new book, “Stray,” and will speak about his writing at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the Main Library in Monroe.

To commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 96-year-old French Jewish spy Marthe Cohn will speak and sign copies of her book, “Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a French Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany,” at 5 p.m. Thursday at the World War II National Museum of New Orleans. When the Nazis crossed the border and invaded France in 1940, Cohn and her family fled. She joined the French Army as part of the intelligence service and set out on missions behind enemy lines. Posing as a young German nurse desperate to find her fiancé, Cohn successfully retrieved critical information about German troop movements and reported it to the Allies.

John Magill, a retired curator at The Historic New Orleans Collection, discusses his book, “The Incomparable Magazine Street,” at 7 p.m. Thursday at the East Bank Regional Library, Metairie. Also at the library is Sydney P. Bellard, who will discuss his book, “A Cajun in France: Journeys to Assimilation,” at 7 p.m. Thursday. Bellard’s talk and book signing occur as part of the monthly meeting of the Jefferson Parish Historical Society.

Lafayette Reads Together will host a Photo Scavenger Hunt for ages 12-18 at 4:30 p.m. Friday at the Main Library in Lafayette.

Chere Coen is the author of several Louisiana non-fiction books and the “Viola Valentine” Louisiana paranormal mystery series under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.