Angie Thomas 2-Book Collection by Angie Thomas

Author:Angie Thomas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-02-11T00:00:00+00:00

MAP

NAMES HAVE POWER

In The Hate U Give, Maverick took special care naming each of his kids—he feels that names have power; they can define you. I took a similar approach when naming various characters and places in the book.

Garden Heights

For one, if you haven’t noticed, every street in Garden Heights is named after a tree, flower, or plant, making the neighborhood a garden in a figurative sense. The whole concept was inspired by Tupac’s poem “The Rose That Grew from Concrete.” In that poem, he uses the metaphor of a rose growing in concrete to describe young people who grow up in difficult circumstances but manage to survive and thrive. I wanted Starr, Seven, Sekani, DeVante, Kenya, and Khalil to be roses in their own ways. The neighborhood name Garden Heights represents the concrete garden they have to survive and thrive in.

Starr Amara Carter

Once again, I have Tupac to thank for this name. Starr’s first and middle names honor him. According to Pac’s ex-wife, if he ever had a daughter he wanted to name her Starr. Unfortunately, he never had children. I think he got the name from Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night”—it was his favorite painting, and van Gogh was his favorite artist. He even wrote a poem called “Starry Night.” Starr’s middle name, Amara, was inspired by Pac’s middle name, Amaru.

Maverick Carter

One of my all-time favorite books is Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor. Reading it was the first time I saw myself in a book; the main character is a black girl in Mississippi. I love the family in the book and wanted the Carters to almost be a contemporary version of them—just as loving, loyal, and resilient. One day, I was reading Ms. Taylor’s book and came across a line where the main character, Cassie, describes her mom as a “disrupting maverick. Her ideas were always a bit too radical and her statements a bit too pointed.” That described Starr’s dad to a T. Thus, I named him Maverick.

Lisa Carter

I named Starr’s mom Lisa to honor someone who helped save my life: Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of TLC. She was my favorite entertainer, by far. When I was a teenager, my mom somehow arranged for me to chat with Lisa on the phone. At the time, I was in a very dark place mentally. But Lisa talked to me, listened to me, and encouraged me. It gave me more strength than she realized. She even sent me some amazing memorabilia, including one of her songs that hadn’t been released yet. Only a few months after our call, she sadly passed away. I hope that the character of Lisa is even half as amazing as she was.

Seven Maverick Carter

Although it’s not revealed in the book, Seven’s middle name is his dad’s first name. Seven is considered the number of perfection, and instead of making him a “Junior” who might repeat his mistakes, Maverick wanted his son to be a better version of himself. Hence, Seven (the perfect) Maverick.

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