Author Angie Thomas on How Books Empower the Next Generation | TIME

"When I got there, one of the first things I saw were young people with signs that resembled my book cover," Thomas told TIME's Books Editor Lucy Feldman for a TIME100 Talks discussion.

Thomas' 2017 debut book features an illustration of a Black girl with curly hair and Jordans, the protagonist, Starr Carter, holding a protest sign emblazoned with the title of the book: The Hate U Give. Her young readers arrived at the Mississippi demonstration with protest signs replacing the book title with their own messages.
"One thing we're seeing right now is [young people] realizing that power," Thomas said. "I'm honored to know that I can be a microphone for them and amplify them even louder."