Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

What a powerful read. This is yet another example of a book I’ve had sitting on my shelf for years that I just hadn’t gotten to. I’m punching myself for waiting so long.

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter lives between two worlds. The poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. She’s learned how to code-switch, how to be one version of herself at home and another version at school. It’s exhausting, but it’s how she survives. That uneasy balance gets completely shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Oh, and shocker – Khalil was unarmed.

His death becomes a national headline. Some people are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in his name. Everyone wants to know what really went down that night. And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. Cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family to keep Starr from testifying. And what she does or doesn’t say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.

The book and its themes are so timely. This was published in 2017, but it feels like it could have been written yesterday. Police violence against Black people. The way victims get villainized in the media. The way white people weaponize their comfort and their fear. All of it is still happening. All of it is still relevant.

Starr is an unforgettable character. She’s smart, funny, scared, brave, and deeply human. Watching her navigate the aftermath of Khalil’s death is heartbreaking. She’s dealing with trauma. She’s dealing with guilt. She’s dealing with pressure from every direction. Her family wants to protect her. Her community wants her to speak up. The police want her to stay quiet. And she’s just a teenager trying to figure out what the right thing to do is.

The supporting characters are just as strong. Starr’s parents are incredible. Her father is a former gang member who got out and built a life for his family. Her mother is protective and fierce. Her uncle is a cop, which adds another complicated layer to the story. And Starr’s relationships with her friends, both at school and in her neighborhood, feel real and messy and complicated.

Thomas doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff. She shows how systemic racism works. She shows how the justice system fails Black people over and over again. She shows how privilege protects some people while endangering others. And she does all of it without being preachy or heavy-handed. The story does the work.

This is also one of those books that gets frequently banned, which tells you everything you need to know about the people trying to ban it. Far-right so-called Christians refuse to accept that Black people do face police violence at a much higher rate than white people, and this book shows the effects of that violence. It shows the grief. It shows the anger. It shows the fear. And apparently, that’s too uncomfortable for some people to handle. Which is exactly why books like this need to exist.

This book matters. It’s necessary. It’s urgent. And it’s one of those rare books that manages to be both deeply personal and universally relevant. Starr’s story is specific, but the systems and violence she’s up against are not. They’re real. They’re ongoing. And they need to be talked about. If you typically steer away from YA, don’t skip this one. It’s an important piece of literature that deserves to be read by everyone. It’s won a ton of awards, and every single one of them is deserved.

If you haven’t read this yet, now is the time. It’s powerful, it’s timely, and it will stay with you long after you finish it.