The Hate U Give

Khalil is Starr’s childhood friend and first crush. Although they grew apart since Starr started school at Williamson Prep, they reconnect at a party at the start of the novel. Khalil sells drugs, which Starr initially assumes is merely a decision he made as a Black boy growing up in Garden Heights. However, it is later revealed that Khalil more or less had no choice but to start working for King because his mother owed the drug kingpin money. He also had very few other economic opportunities due to his upbringing.

Near the start of the novel, Khalil is shot and killed by Officer 115 during a traffic stop. Before being shot, the officer harassed Khalil, pulling him out of the car. Khalil as a character looms large over the rest of the novel as the community struggles to achieve justice for his death and as the media essentially puts him on trial for his own killing.

Maverick “Mav” Carter is Starr’s father and a former member of the King Lords, one of the two main gangs in Garden Heights. He took the fall for King, the leader of the gang, and served three years in prison when Starr was young, which is why he was allowed to leave the gang. He now owns a grocery store and is highly respected in the community.

Mav teaches his children the sayings of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers, telling them to always fight for what is right. However, he also gives them practical knowledge and skills for survival in Garden Heights. He is distrustful of Starr’s white boyfriend Chris at first and also doesn’t like his brother-in-law, Carlos, who is a cop. However, throughout the course of the novel, he grows to respect them both.

In the end, he finally fully breaks free of King’s control by snitching on him for trying to burn down the store with Starr inside. His actions inspire the rest of the community to do the same.

Lisa is Starr’s mother and Mav’s wife. She is a nurse who works at the neighborhood clinic and later gets a high-paying job at a hospital, allowing the family to move out of Garden Heights. She was wild as a girl when she met Mav and was put out of the house by her mother when she got pregnant with Starr as a teenager. However, being pregnant inspired her to clean up her act and be responsible for her children. She is a strict mother who nevertheless loves her children dearly and supports them in their beliefs. She is a frequent source of wisdom for Starr throughout the book.

Carlos is Lisa’s brother and Starr’s uncle. He is a police officer who is married to a doctor. They live in a very nice gated community outside of Garden Heights. He helped raise Starr and her brothers when they were young, while Mav was in prison. As a result, Mav dislikes him.

Carlos is a source of safety for Starr throughout the novel, offering a unique perspective as a Black man and also a cop. Like Starr, he also exists in two worlds and struggles when they collide.

King is the leader of the King Lord gang and one of the antagonists of the book. He and Mav were friends when they were both in the gang, and King has a kind of respect for Mav, given that he took the fall for him on a drug charge. However, King is also a ruthless leader who sometimes terrorizes the Garden Heights community in order to maintain control.

When he finds out that Starr was the witness to the murder, King tries to intimidate her with increasingly violent acts. He attempts to burn her alive inside the store for dry snitching on him.

Chris is Starr’s boyfriend from Williamson Prep. He comes from a very wealthy family but is sweet and shares many interests in common with Starr, such as a mutual love for The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and sneakers. Throughout the novel, Chris is a well-meaning advocate for Starr and for the Black community in general. However, he confronts several assumptions and misconceptions he had about race and society as a result of his privileged upbringing. Starr gives him a new perspective, and he is receptive to new ways of thinking. He becomes a first-hand witness of the riots and proves himself a loyal and true ally for Starr and the community.

Seven is Starr’s older half-brother and the son of Mav and Iesha. He is frequently caught between the Carter family and looking out for his Iesha and his sisters Kenya and Lyric from King’s temper. He is smart and although he is accepted into college, he wants to turn down that opportunity to stay close to his family. Mav encourages him not to pass up the chance to do great things.

Seven is a protector in Starr’s life, frequently coming to her defense and helping her make sense of her situation.

Hailey is one of Starr’s best friends at Williamson Prep who plays on the basketball team with her. Starr and Hailey initially bonded because they were in grief—Starr witnessed Natasha’s death, and Hailey lost her mother to cancer. However, despite this bond, the friendship is unequal, with Hailey frequently ordering Starr and Maya around.

Hailey makes several casually racist comments to Starr but refuses to apologize or even acknowledge the harm of her words when confronted. She represents the insidious side of systemic racism in the novel, as she is a privileged white girl who cannot or will not see that racism is a problem at all. Eventually, Starr ends their friendship.

April Ofrah is an attorney and one of the leaders of the Just Us for Justice organization. She is a source of information for the community who later acts as Starr’s legal representation. She also leads the protests against Khalil’s murder and the grand jury’s decision not to indict his killer. During the riots, she encourages Starr to speak out.

April Ofrah represents the type of activist Starr might grow to be. She fights for her community and leads the charge against injustice.

DeVante is a contemporary of Starr’s and a member of the King Lords. At the beginning of the book, his brother is shot and killed at the party where Starr reconnects with Khalil. As a result of this tragedy, he wants to save the rest of his family from Garden Heights. To do this, he steals money from King, earning the wrath of the gang.

Knowing that Mav escaped the gang life, DeVante goes to him for help. Late in the book, he is found and beaten by the King Lords, but Starr, Seven, and Chris help him escape. He goes through the events of the climax with the three of them. Ultimately, he decides to snitch on King in order to keep him in jail and help the neighborhood.

DeVante represents the life Khalil might have had if he had survived. He also helps Starr understand how easy and sometimes essential it is for young boys in the neighborhood to join a gang.