We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds

Avery Anderson is convinced her senior year is ruined when she's uprooted from her life in DC and forced to Bardell, Georgia, and into the hostile home of her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The tension between Avery's mom and Mama Letty makes for a frosty arrival and unearths past drama they refuse to talk about. Desperate to learn the secrets that split her family in two, Avery finds friendship in unexpected places: in Simone Cole, her next-door neighbor, and Jade Oliver, daughter of the town's most prominent family--whose mother's murder remains unsolved. As the three girls grow closer, the sharp-edged opinions of their small southern town begin to hint at something insidious underneath. The racist history of Bardell is rooted in Avery's family, and she must decide if digging for the truth is worth toppling the relationships she's built.-- Jas Hammonds was raised in many cities and between the pages of many books. They have received support for their writing from Lambda Literary, Baldwin for the Arts, and the Highlights Foundation. They are also a grateful recipient of the MacDowell James Baldwin Fellowship. Their debut novel, We Deserve Monuments, won the 2023 Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award for New Talent, among many other accolades. 2023 Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award for New Talent Winner A Kirkus Best Books of 2022 A School and Library Journal Best Book of 2022 A Parents Magazine Best Books of 2022 People magazine's Best Children's Books of 2022 "A gripping portrayal of the South's inherent racism and a love story for queer Black girls." -- Teen Vogue   " We Deserved Monuments gives us a complex and deeply injured family, and shows a path to healing." --NPR