This was a very interesting book, but I wasn't really into it. It wasn't really a story that I enjoyed, it had potential but I didn't see myself getting into the writing.

We deserve monuments has everything you need for a great read- queer Black girl magic, mysteries and secrets, and characters fighting against the grains of society.
This beautiful book was packed with rawness and so much emotion.
High school students and adults will love Avery, Simone, and Mama Letty!

4.5 stars. Avery is an amazing character. Mama Letty, Zora, Simone and the others are well drawn, so real, with genuine voices. I laughed, I cried, and I savored every minute while reading this story of three generations of strong women. Traumas and secrets of the past contribute to the complex relationship between Mama Letty, Avery, and Zora. The descriptions of Bardell bring the small southern town to life. What an amazing debut novel. Sure hope Hammonds is busy on another rich, thought-provoking, and well-written story.

I absolutely loved this book! It could’ve been longer and include more of the back story of the grandparents, the mysterious death of one of the characters’ and more of everyone’s back story! I feel in love with all of the characters, of course the relationship between Mama Letty and “Fish.” I would give it 4 stars because I wanted more of everything and a little tighter ending but I am giving it 5 stars because it’s a unique story that in very needed in our YA book world!

We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds is a YA novel set in the Deep South where racism still lurks in a gentrified small town.
Avery Anderson’s life is thrown into disarray when she and her parents relocate from Washington DC to Bardell, Georgia to look after her maternal grandmother who’s in the last stages of cancer. In DC, Avery had it all figured out. She and her two best friends were going to finish their last year of high school and secure their acceptances to elite colleges. But that was before she knew that her grandmother was dying; a grandmother she barely remembered, and grandmother nobody talked about.
Bardell isn’t like anywhere Avery’s ever been. There are two small high schools in town – the public high school and the private academy founded by one of the town’s many racist forefathers. Avery is one of only two Black students at Beckwith Academy. She’s quickly adopted by two best friends: Simone Cole, the other Black student at school and Jade Oliver a descendent of one of Bardell’s oldest families. Avery quickly falls into an easy friendship with them.
She wishes the same could be true about her grandmother. Mama Letty isn’t an easy woman to get to know, let alone love. There’s a tension between her mother and grandmother that’s like a fifth person living in the unkept, cluttered old house. It’s clear there’s a lot of drama both women are refusing to address. Avery’s relationship with her mother is very close, but when it comes to her mother’s childhood, she realizes she knows very little. Every time she tries to engage with Mama Letty, she’s dismissed by the grumpy old woman.
Avery becomes obsessed with finding out the secrets that split her family in two. Simone and Jade are able to shed some light on Mama Letty’s past, but it isn’t until Mama Letty begins opening up to Avery that she’s able to start piecing together a family history shaped by the town’s racist history.
Avery and Simone’s friendship blossoms into romance. In a town like Bardell, two girls in love is an afront to decency. Two Black girls in love is dangerous.
As Avery gets closer and closer to uncovering the insidious past that’s held power over the women in her family, she must decide if uncovering the truth is worth destroying the sensitive relationships she’s forming in Bardell.

We Deserve Monuments is ridiculously well written. (So many spoilers I’ve got to maneuver around.) Hammonds masterfully tells the story of a young woman on the verge of self-discovery within a novel about generational trauma and racism. Throughout the book, Avery recognizes she’s not the girl she once was. She’s gathering family truths that will shape who she’ll become. The relationship between the three generations of women is fraught with tension. Every time they seem to be growing closer, lies of omission from the past wreck their progress. The story is written in first person from Avery’s point of view. In between chapters there are small vignettes about the past told by an all-seeing narrator in third person. I loved this device. At first, I was thrown off, but I quickly realized they were little morsels of information that helped layout and explain the mystery at the heart of the story. The most compelling part of the book is the relationship between Avery and her grandmother. It’s slow going, but underneath Mama Letty’s gruff and sometimes cruel exterior is a woman who wants to be known and understood.

Ooh, I loved this book. There were all sorts of layers to peel back – the urgency of the present mixed with the daunting truths and lies of the past. We Deserve Monuments isn’t easy to read at times, but it’s oh so satisfying. Hammonds balances the rollercoaster of emotions that encapsules high school with a family reckoning that’s been decades overdue. This is their debut novel, and I’m already a devoted reader.

This book knocked it out of the park...captivating story, LGBTQ love, family drama/trauma, coming of age, racism, secrets...you name it, your emotions will experience it. #emotionalrollercoaster

We Deserve Monuments is a story about family secrets love, and loss.

When Avery and her family move to small town Georgia from Washington DC to take care of her maternal grandmother who is dying, Avery wonders why she doesn't even know her grandmother. Why did her mother keep her away? And why did her mother leave her hometown and never go back until now?

A new town means going to a new school and making new friends too. And Avery isn't happy about leaving her friends and school to take care of a woman she's only met once in her life.

A great story about family and friendship.

Every family has secrets, and traumas, and guilt, that they don’t share with the younger generation sometimes. And even though our older generations may try to hide things from us those things always save into our lives and our relationships. For Avery being uprooted and moved to a new place with her grandmother has only exacerbated this feeling as both her mom and grandma try to learn how to communicate without ever revealing things hidden in the past. Avery begins to make friends, and possibly even find a new romance, but as her grandmothers days come to an end she has to make choices about knowing the truth. I had the pleasure of seeing this author speak at the ALA conference and getting an early copy of this book and I was so excited to read it and it did not disappoint.

If you are looking for a slow-burn and character-driven story that follows a teenager navigating the complexities of family relationships after a difficult falling out, then this book is for you. This book follows Avery and her family who recently has moved in with Mama Letty, Avery's grandmother, after finding out her health has gotten worse due to a terminal illness. The book continues to follow Avery as she is building a relationship with her mother and grandmother, learning the history behind the town her mother grew up in, and what happened that causes such a rift in the family. This is all happening in a small town with watchful eyes and rumors that spread like wildfire when Avery is trying to find herself such as shaving her head, her sexuality, her future career, what school to attend. There is also a small mystery about involving deaths that happened years prior unraveling as the story goes on. There is hope, tears, laughter, fear, anger, love, and so many more emotions that portray the complexity and messiness of all kinds of relationships.

I loved this. It was rich, lush, thoughtful. Reading it felt like eating a full meal cooked by my grandmother, with collards and yams and turkey falling off the bone.

It's a testament to girls and figuring out who they are and the bumps along the way, in all stages of life. It read to me like Gloria Naylor or Sandra Cisneros, with a teeny but of teenagerhood thrown in.

I knew I had to read this one when I saw it, but it exceeded my expectations.

Run and read this book - but prepare to have your heart twisted, if not torn. This contemporary YA story is set in rural Georgia (USA) in the present day. This is the first book I have read that includes the main characters having dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. While it was not the focus of the story, the mentions of the pandemic helped ground the story in reality and helped add to the feelings of loss in the main character. I was happy to see the inclusion of how it had impacted her.

Speaking of the main character, Avery, I really love her. She is of mixed race (Black mother and white father) and is queer and unapologetically out. Her feelings are never minimised by the author (although they are by her mother at times) and I appreciated how the author showed that we don’t often feel just one emotion at a time. Avery’s life has been temporarily upheaved from DC to Georgia to help care for her estranged maternal grandmother, who is dying and is not exactly nice. This book is mostly a character study of Avery as she attempts romantic love again, tries to get to know her grandmother before it’s too late, and helps her family reconcile after years of little contact. It’s a beautifully told story, even in the parts that are difficult. I, too, wish I had known Mama Letty more. As an aside, I liked all of Avery’s nicknames!

TW for mentions of alcoholism and verbal abuse, homophobia, racism, character death (the premise of the story).

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC. I am so excited for others to be able to read this book!

Just WOW. I devoured this novel and with good reason! It’s a wonderfully written story about a queer woman coming of age and unraveling years of familial secrets, and trying to break the cycles of generational trauma. No matter your background, you can find yourself in these characters and take something away from the story. Rarely has a book captivated my attention like this one, and the characters only propel the story forward.

We Deserve Monuments is a story about family and how complicated they can be, but also a story about being true to yourself, love, friendship, all with a little murder mystery sprinkled on top. I thought all elements were well done--strong sense of place, great character development, well-paced and written. Several moments at the end were especially heartwarming. One thing I really enjoyed was that while there were many elements to the story, it felt like an accurate representation of how many significant things teens deal with all at once. Avery moves to a new town, has to make new friends and eventually deal with some drama, navigate a new and sort of complicated relationship with the girl next door, all while getting to know her grandmother as she is dying. This is an incredible debut and I look forward to reading more from this author.

“Be careful with all them questions you’re asking,” she said. “Might f*ck around and actually learn something.”
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Ahh, the delightful burden of truth.
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Congrats to Jas Hammond on your debut!!! We Deserve Monuments is a multilayered tale of generational trauma, queer Black love, the lasting impacts of racism, and the cost of knowing. I really enjoyed Avery as a character as she relentlessly pursued the truth against hostility and pushback from every angle. The developing relationship between Avery and Simone were also very well done. I really got a good sense of what it means to be out in a small town filled with hate, and I liked that it wasn't something quickly brushed over to make room for the romance. And while there was a LOT going on in this book, I feel Hammond gave each topic a good amount of time to develop where it didn't seem overwhelming.

Lastly, y’all know I’m a sucker for a pretty cover so like, was this NOT supposed to grab my attention? Thanks to Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for my copy!!
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Just some quick CW before I go: racism, terminal illness, murder, toxic parental relationships, emotional abuse, homophobia, character outing. Take care of yourselves, friends!

When I went into this book, I was expecting that it would be about a person of color (POC) who did something monumental, who was thus deserving of a monument. However, this book is rather the opposite of that. I saw this book as having the message that everyone is deserving of a monument, or rather, worth remembering, even if they made mistakes in their life.

The main character, Avery, moves to small town Georgia with her mother and father to help take care of her dying grandmother. While on this journey, Avery discovers a lot family secrets revealing why her mother and grandmother didn't talk for over a decade. This book displayed a beautiful message about the power of family and forgiveness. There were a lot of facets to the relationships that the characters had that I think many people could relate to. Even as an adult, I could relate to the relationship that Avery's mother and grandmother had. There was a lot of unresolved hurt that they were still holding onto.

This book also has a lot of LGBTQIA+ representation. Besides the grandmother, most characters identify as queer in someway. Along with that, there's issues of characters' coming out and being accepted in the south.

While this book wasn't what I was expecting, it was ultimately a great read that had a lot of life messages that I valued. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

This is the most achingly beautiful book I have read in years. Jas Hammonds is a talent to be watched. If this is their debut effort, look out world!
Delving into generational trauma, queer oases in the south, teenagers figuring out who they are while trying to discover who their family members are and have been.
I lack the words to describe this adequately but thank goodness Hammonds has found the words to tell this incredible story. This book belongs in every school classroom and library in the country.

It's honestly hard for me to capture all of the feelings that Hammonds creates within the reader in a review. Hammonds excels at bringing together the difficulty of intergenerational trauma, of illness and death in the family, of making friends in a new town, of finding yourself and who you are, and of so, so much more. It's a lot for a single text to accomplish -- yet Hammond does it fluidly, without feeling forced or over-dramatic. It feels REAL. Teenage and young adult readers will connect deeply with the story that Hammonds tells. Easily the best YA fiction story that I've read this year.

Thank you, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, for allowing me to read We Deserve Monuments early.

I loved, loved, loved this story. Such a gorgeous debut. It broke my heart into a million pieces and then mended it together in a beautiful way. I will definitely recommend this story to my students.

Jas Hammonds has my eyes all watery at the end of WE DESERVE MONUMENTS. The impact of generational trauma - the fizzy Sprite feeling of first kisses - sour/sweet coming out stories - unsolved murder mysteries & lazy summer nights.

I thought this was a very strong debut! The characters in particular made the story - they were fully fleshed out and flawed but likable. It did take me a little bit of time to adjust to the formatting of the story (the third person interstitial chapters threw me off at first) and I thought the book wrapped up pretty abruptly and didn't have the most satisfying ending, but otherwise I really enjoyed reading this!