. >> reporter: the film is based on the best-selling novel by 30-year-old angie thomas. her first.that was write. >> reporter: the unarmed grant was shot and killed by a california policeo about the shooting of a young unarmed african-american. >> out of the car. >> reporter: witnessed by his friend, 16-year-old star carter. >> what did you do? >> reporter: thomas drew on her own experiences growing up in a gang-plagued neighborhood in jackson, mississippi and attending a mostly white school. >> i told people i left my house playing tupac, by the time i got to school i listened to the jonas brothers because that's what i had to do to fit in. >> trying to navigate two worlds. >> exactly. >> and that's what your character does. >> star is played by 19-year-old enberg. >> my initial thoughts were oh, my god, i've never seen anything that represents my experience so accurately. by many readers at a recent book signing. >> hi. >> "the hate you gi favorite book because it's the realest thing i've ever read. >> reporter: thomas says that's exactly why she wrote this story, to help every k

the film is based on the best selling novel by 30-year-old angie thomas. nser first.ite this? >> i was inspired by the shooting death of oscar grant in 2009 and my anger and frustration and hurt, i only knew to do one thing, that's write. >> the unarmed grant was shot and killed by a california police officer. thomas' novel is also about the shooting of a young unarmed african american. >> out of the car. >> witnessed by his friend, 16-year-old star carter. >> what did you do? >> thomas drew on her growing up in a gang plagued neighborhood in jackson, mississippi and attending a mostly white school. >> i often tell people i left my house in pltupac and by the time i got to school, i was st liing to the jonas brothers because that's what i had to do to fit in. >> navigating two worlds. >> exactly. >> that's what star does. >> exactly. >> star is played by 19-year-old amanla. w whe you thoughts? >> my god, i've never seen anything that represents my experience so accurately. >> a feeling echoed by many readers at a recent book signing. >> hi. >> hi. >> the hate you giv"

angie thomas is, again, drawing on her teenage experience for her second book due out next year.for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. thank you for watching and good night. juvenile suspect recordings. tonight, a veteran >>> right now at 6:00, juvenile suspects in secret recordings. tonight a veteran sergeant in the bay area finds himself on the wrong side of the law. >>> scattered rain moving throughout the bay area. we're tracking it on storm ranger. >>> i don't know who would really want to go into his court. >> she was the first politician to hear of the sexual assault allegation against judge kavanaugh. the message to senators considering his nomination to the supreme court. the news at 6:00 starts right now. good evening and thanks for being with us. i'm raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. in a minute now republican senators expect to receive the results of a new fbi background investigation into supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. >> they want a full senate vote on friday, but senate democrats are furious. nbc news now reporting there are

." >> it is based on a book by angie thomas. it's about this girl named star carter who is code switching between her two environments, so her neighborhood where she grew up, which is predominantly african-american, and her school which is across town and is predominantly white and privileged. and so she's kind of had to learn how to compartmentalize herself in order to fit into those different environments. this really traumatic event happens when she's in her ildhood friends.h one of her they get pulled over by a white police officer and he gets shot and killed in front of her. she has to grapple with being the witness and making the decision to speak up and out for him but at the same time she has to kind of compromise her safety and confront her idea. -- identity. >> a lot of complex questions about race. let's watch a clip. >> a lot goes through a cop's mind when they pull someone over, especially if they have to get into a pissing contest with the driver about why they stopped them. it sets off an alarm. are they hiding so

. >> reporter: the film is based on the best selling novel by 30-year-old angie thomas, her first.t inspired you to write this? >> i was inspired by the shoong death of oscar grant in 2009. in my anger and frustration and hurt, i only knew to do onend thing ahat was write. >> reporter: the unarmed grant was shot and killed by a california police officer. thomas' novel is also about the shooting of a young, unarmed african-american. >> out of the car. >> witnessed by his friend, 16-year-old star tcarter. >> w did you do! >> reporter: thomas drew from h her own experiences in mississippi. >> i tell people i left my house listening to tupac and when i got to school i was listening to the jones brothers, i had to fit t. >> reporter: i wan know what your reaction was when you read this book, what your thoughts were. >> my initial thoughts were, oh, my god, i've a never seenthing that represents my experience so accurately. >> reporter: an experience echoed by many reers. >>t's the realest thing i've ever read. >> reporter: thomas says thas exactly why she wrote the story, to help every

. >> the film is based on the best selling novel by 30-year-old angie thomas. her first. >> what inspired you to write this? >> i was inspired by the shooting death of oscar grant in 2009, and my anger and frustration and hurt. i only knew to do one thing, and that was write. >> the unarmed grant was shot and killed by a california police officer. thomas's novel is also about the shooting of a young unarmed african-american. >> out of the car. >> witnessed by his friend, 16-year-old star carter. >> what did you do! >> thomas drew on her own experiences growing up in a gang-plagued neighborhood in jackson, mississippi, and attending a mostly white school. >> i often tell people i left my house playing two parts. by the time i got to my school i was listening to the jonas brothers. that's what i had to do to fit in. >> trying to navigate your world. >> exactly. >> star is played by 19-year-old imanla stenbur. >> i want to know what your thoughts were. >> my initial thoughts were i've never seen anything that echoes my feelings so accurately. >> it's my favorite b

author angie thomas grew up with that experience ofwi codehing.d >> i wan talk about black girlhood--t it's like to be a young black woman in a society u're notetimes says enough, or you're too much. how do you navigate those spaces, knowing those things? so, starr is very careful of who she is, where she is. when she's in her neighborhood, she can't act too white. , when she's at her schoole can't act too black. so, she feels as if she has to put herself in a box in th of these worlds, and make herself acceptable to those around her. >> brown: 19-year-old acess amandla stenberg-- previously known from "the hunger games" and other roles-- says she, too, grew up between worlds. >> i think early on that kind gave me thisense of, "oh, it's not okay to show up as my full authentic self in rtain spaces, and i need to learn how to adapt to that space." and i think in some ways it was detrimental in some way. j thatt an inherent part of being a person of color. but i think it wasn't until i was older that i was able to kind of marry those identities fud understand that they were both really

. >> first of all, angie thomas who wrote the book wrote an incredible book, it's been on the "new york >> oh, 83, okay. [ laughter ] >> i got the facts. >> and our director and our writer who wrote the script i feel like they capture the way human beings talk. it was important for uncle carlos and starr to have the conversation about what it means to be a black police officer. >> i thought we know this story but we didn't know this particular story because your dad in the movie is a former gang member, you witness this, and your dad is encouraging you to tell the truth which is sort of unheard in the culture about snitching. >> i think what can be powerful about it is how the media tends to misconstrue blackness. hopefully we can postulate it in a way that's truthful and honest and we're allowed to be open and and canned and multidimensional. >> common, you talk about the difficulty of portraying black police officers, what is the truth of that? >> the truth is they're human beings and we don't want to stereotype black people and we don't want to stereotype all police as bad but we hav

"the hate u give" is an adaption of angie thomas' best-selling novel about the police shooting of a young man. two of the film's stars amandla stenberg appeared on this show. >> george tillman, our director, and our writer who wrote the script, i feel like they captured the way people talk, human beings talk. >> "the hate u give" opened in select theaters yesterday t. opens nationwide october 19th. >> very sad. >>> and the bbc reports the street artist known as bancy got the last laugh. girl with a balloon sold for more than $1 million at sotheby's in london. the canvas passed through a shredder hidden inside the frame. some in attendance gasped while others laughed and even applauded. we don't know who the winning bidder is. the caption, going, going, gone. >> omg. wouldn't you take the shredded parts and frame -- >> that's a comment about the art market if ever i saw one. wow. and it's amazing that someone in the audience politely applauded. i think they were in shock. >>> all right, it's about 22 after the hour. now here is a look at the weather for your weekend. >>> it's a brand-new t