"These Heathens" offers a fresh and important perspective on the Civil Rights Movement, told through the eyes of Doris, a teenage Black girl from a poor, rural town in the South. Her weekend trip to Atlanta exposes her to a very different world—one filled with wealthy Black families, queer communities, and political activism.

I appreciated how the novel explores class and cultural differences within the Black community, especially Doris’s discomfort and curiosity as she navigates spaces so different from her own. The story touches on major issues like abortion access, the split between non-violent and combative civil rights strategies, and the hidden lives of queer Black people in the 1960s.

At times, the plot dragged and felt thin, which was frustrating, but the characters and themes were strong enough to keep me engaged. I especially liked how the story centered Black women in all their diversity—young and old, rich and poor, gay and straight.

Overall, this is a unique and thought-provoking read that shines a light on parts of history we don’t often see.

Sometimes, a singular experience can be life-changing. These Heathens is an excellent example of how one weekend can alter the trajectory of a person's life. There was so much to unpack and think about in this novel. On the one hand, it explores somber themes (1960-era abortion, civil rights, Black culture, and lesbian relationships), yet it also features light-hearted, fun moments. I found the book to be well-paced, and I finished it in a couple of days. If you enjoy mid-20th-century period literature, put this book at the top of your pile. I read a lot of this genre, and this book was 100% original.
Book clubs will find a wealth of material to explore. I'll be recommending it to mine.

Many thanks to NetGalley for gifting me an ebook in exchange for a review.

Mia McKenzie doesn’t miss. These Heathens follows Doris, a young Black woman living in 1960s rural Georgia, whose life up until this point has been defined by care-taking for her family, especially an ailing mother. After an unplanned pregnancy and certainty that she does not want to keep it, Doris seeks the help of a former teacher who brings her to Atlanta. Doris is quickly immersed in city life, including the chance to attend a SNCC conference. From political possibilities to learning about the secret queer community of Atlanta’s Black elite, Doris begins to question her beliefs and imagine a life that centers her.

McKenzie does character development so well; I was fully invested in each person in the story, and delighted by the appearance of several historical figures. The opening of Doris’s heart, mind and personal imagination felt true—she works to reshape herself in ways that align with asserting her own power.

Gritty, visceral, and deeply personal. McKenzie pulls no punches in a novel that challenges and provokes. The voice is fierce and unforgettable, though the nonlinear structure may challenge some readers. A raw, unforgettable experience.

Mia McKenzie created such a rich world to live in with These Heathens. Dorris offered the reader such a poignant window into a specific slice of life that managed to capture the mood of the early 60s with precision. Despite only following Dorris story over the course of a weekend, McKenzie managed to create a kind of magic portal to a particular moment of history and filled that space with beautiful, complex characters. From Dorris to Cate; Julia to Sylvia; Dexter to Erik to Pearl, I fell in love with each character we met. I flew through this book, and if I had one critique, it would be that I fell in love with the world McKenzie created and was sad to leave it at the end of the novel. I would love to live in this universe longer and perhaps see this world through other character's eyes.

This was a quick and entertaining read that I finished in a few hours.
A well written story that kept me hooked from the very beginning.
The characters draw you in and keeps you flipping the pages.
The characters were all realistic and very well developed.
I really enjoyed the writing style. I found myself hooked, turning the pages.

There is a lot to like about this one! Smart, very Black and queer and set during a fascinating time. And it wasn’t just centered on Black hardships (though they are mentioned, obviously). I thought the storyline was a little thin in areas but I also really loved what the author had to say. A really thought provoking story.

This is a great coming of age story that follows Doris and her journey in Atlanta doing one weekend. I enjoyed this as it was very thought provoking and explores racism, sexism, sexuality and a host of other things. This is a new to me author and I’m glad I was able to check this one out.

These Heathens is a masterful, hilarious story about religion, self discovery, and making the best choice for yourself even when you've been conditioned to distrust your mind, intuition, and desires. When 17 year old Doris becomes pregnant in 1960s small town Georgia, her journey to Atlanta for a safe place to get an abortion results in a weekend spent learning about the world outside of her sheltered existence. Among the quietly-guarded yet publicly-facing civil rights activists, speakers, and thought leaders of that time hides a thriving queer community in plain sight. They live artistic, full lives, free from the burden that religion has placed on Doris' shoulders her entire life, and among this band of "heathens" she begins to see her situation less as a sin that she should be forever shamed for, and more as an opportunity to learn to live life on her terms.

One of my favorite parts of this story was Doris' narrative voice. Even though she is still a child, she has been parentified by her parents and siblings, after stepping up after her mother falls ill. It felt like she was participating in adult experiences but through a childlike gaze, rarely having agency over herself, her body, or actions. Like many other girls in this era, she's been conditioned to believe that she exists for the benefit of her family, and, eventually, to be second to a man for the rest of her life. Even though Doris was immature, she slowly becomes a woman over this extended weekend, daring to do things she'd never do back home. Under the supervision of her favorite and most trusted teacher from high school, Doris encounters a lively queer community Doris had no idea her beloved teacher was part of.

I really love historical fiction that folds important icons and figures from Black history into the narrative, but something about the way the Kings were written here felt authentic to how they are always depicted in media and uniquely beautiful at the same time. Here we get to hear about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King's true progressivism that isn't part of the mainstream historical recounting of their existence, especially as it pertains to reproductive choice and maintaining close relationships with queer members of society.

This was beautifully-written, and though the pacing lagged in the third quarter of the novel, the end more than made up for it.

4.75 ⭐️s

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!

What a wonderful, important book. This book is a coming-of-age novel about Doris Steele, a young Black teenager living in Georgia in 1960. She gets pregnant and knows that she does not want and is not able to take care of a child. Her favorite teacher tries to help her go to Atlanta to get an abortion. While there, Doris meets all sorts of interesting people, including Martin Luther King Jr. While struggling to actually get her abortion, she learns a great deal about the civil rights movement. Doris has a wonderful and funny voice, which prevents the book from becoming too difficult to read, while bringing forward many social issues, not just the civil rights movement, abortion rights and gender rights. Moreover, the ultimate discussion centers on this, which applies to every single human being without exception: what do we need to do for other people and what do we owe to ourselves and what happens when those things intersect. I am torn between reading the other two novels this author has written and leaving well enough alone because it is hard for me to think that they are better.
Thanks to Random House Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Mia McKenzie's These Heathens was my perfect start-of-summer read this year. And it may very well be my favorite read of this summer, even though I'll be going through lots of books in the next few months.

These Heathens is set in Georgia in 1960: in the small town where Doris, the central character, lives and in Atlanta, where she travels to end a pregnancy accompanied by one of her former teachers. The "former" here is important. Doris left school a year of two ago because she was needed at home. Her mother has been facing a debilitating illness and Doris, the oldest, has to take on caring for her two younger brothers, along with cooking and cleaning and all the work that keeps a family functioning. Doris comes from a church-going family and is a firm believer. Much of her day is shaped by the "rules" her faith has given her to live by.

But when Doris realizes she's pregnant, she's certain that Jesus doesn't want her to become a mother.
Doris turns to the most trusted adult in her life who is not affiliated with her family's church: her former teacher Mrs. Lucas. Mrs. Lucas promises she will help and arranges through a childhood friend to bring Doris to Atlanta for an abortion.

It's at this point that things begin to get complicated. Doris is meeting people unlike any she's known. These are city people with incomes well beyond those earned by the Black folk living in her home town. There's Mrs. Lucas' childhood friend, who appears to prefer women over men. Doris has been warned about the dangers of inversion, but she is every bit as fascinated as she is perturbed. And she also meets several young men who are introduce her to SNCC, sit-ins, and even a bit of the Nation of Islam. She's also meeting people she's only read about in Jet or Ebony: the Kings, Bayard Rustin, and Black entertainers.

Watching Doris, who is our narrator, enter these new worlds, explain them to herself, and make her own way through them is a delight. As a sampling:

• On the possible futures—all involving marriage—for young women in her home town: "Even if you had better-than-middling luck, the best you could expect to get was a good, dumb one. Or you might land a handsome but evil somebody. Or a smart one with a face like a possum's ass. Or worse, a face like a possum's face. And, depending on what any particular woman liked, and of those options might be fine. But none of them would be something to get your ass beat or let your mascara run over in the street."

• On fashion among Atlanta's Black upper class: "her hair was pressed straighter than the righteous path to Jesus" and "a fur stole so luxurious, looked like the mink wasn't all the way dead yet."

• A Prayer: "Jesus, my Savior, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, please keep her talking long enough for me to hear about some of the wicked things women do in bed together. Amen"

• Look toward the future: "I had so many questions—about theater and sex and Negroes living in France.

And there's the novel's opening line: "One things needs clearing up right off: Reverend King was not the father. That was a rumor, started by crazy people and repeated by heathens."

Track down a copy of this book. Read it. I'm confident These Heathens will wind up on your list of favorites.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved this book! It was compelling and made me want to keep reading. I gave this 5 stars. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I loved this book. The author took a very serious subject and made it heart warming and funny, without taking away from the important messages in the novel. I would highly recommend this thought provoking and engaging book!

I received this ebook as a widget and I am so glad that I did. It was a truly wonderful book about a young black girl in Georgia during the 1960s. It was interesting look at the civil rights movement that was going on and how more rural areas didn't know all that was happening. Doris, a 17 year old black girl finds herself in trouble and reaches out for help. Doris with the help of her teacher goes in a wealthy black neighbor in Atlanta. There she meets a cast of characters that changes the course of her life. Doris has spent her life going to church and devoting herself to family. That weekend in Atlanta changed her perspective on the world and on what her life could look like it she chose a different path. She met celebrities and Dr. and Mrs. King, activist that were just a few years older than her and people living life much different than her little town accepted.

This book was beautifully written and was very relatable. I would recommend that anyone read this to get a better understanding of that time from a black girls view. I was not alive during the civil rights movement but I am glad that this view was from that of a black person and not a white southerner.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Books for the ARC of this ebook. All opinions expressed are my own.

I was really intrigued by the description and cover of this book. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to read this one!

Set in rural and Atlanta Georgia in 1960, the character, 17-year-old Doris finds her life completely changed in just a few days. Doris is deeply entrenched in the Jim Crow South, a black female teenager with few options… but as she learns, she may have more choice than she initially thought or was brave enough to admit.

The deeply religious Doris finds herself at crossroads. She’s pregnant and knows she’s not ready to bring a child into the world. She’s already charged with taking care of her younger siblings, Dad and sick Mom. Doris had to leave school to take on this work, which really left her devastated.

Doris finds herself leaving her rural town in Georgia with her old Teacher, Mrs. Lucas, embarking on a trip to Atlanta to terminate her pregnancy. What Doris finds are a group of people she’s never been exposed to, celebrities, civil rights leaders, gays, queers… HEATHENS! (in her narrow mind.) Over the course of this unbelievable weekend Doris’ eyes are opened. She learns there is beauty in all kinds of people.

I am recommending this book to so many of my friends. I think it has wide appeal, especially in that McKenzie’s storytelling is incredible and I think it has something for everyone to take away from it. It was full of wit and humor. I found myself grinning a few times during my time with it. I read this book in just two days. Fact about me: I never read anything that fast. It flew through it - the story was engaging and I was excited to find out what happened next.

I do not dive into the realm of historical fiction often, when I do I am particular about what I consume. I often find the original stories are just as good if not better than ones which are created in an authors mind about certain time periods. However, that could not be further from the truth about the story and the layers which Mia created with These Heathens.

She has created a complex and beautiful tapestry which looks at the world in 1960's Southern America through the eyes of a Black woman who, while experiencing an traumatic/life changing moment, would be party to the a community which existed in the shadows and nooks and crannies of society at the time. The humans who impacted and changed the world to become what we currently know it to be, but were forced to hide themselves expect around those they trusted to be their full authentic selves. Doris is a main character ne is able to not only relate with but cheer for in the way they would cheer on their younger selves as they are exploring the world beyond their lived experience, without judgement and openness. Mia created Doris with a wit and charm which is able to felt on every page and with every interaction she has on the page.

You will find yourselves cheering for the characters in this book, for them as characters, for their mission in the world and for the outcome of the story until the end. 5 glorious stars.

In this historical novella, if you aren’t god fearing, you’re a heathen. But this fearing teenager Doris learns the hard way that she isn’t so different from them at all. Traveling to the rich household of one of these heathens over a quick weekend, Doris finds her new take on the world.

It’s interesting how delusional and judgmental people can be taught. By Doris’s own views she would be sinful herself, but calls other people names as if she’s the righteous one. As if she is not a sinner herself. It was different for me, how many religious conversations Doris found herself engaged in, with complete strangers, challenging her beliefs.

The friendship and dialogue between Mrs Lucas and Mrs Broussard was enjoyable, reading as they volleyed off each other with ease. Some character contradictions in dialogue that stuck with me a little too much, as it came back down to where certain characters would nitpick where to be judgmental of others on. The writer and the story feels like it finds its groove about 30% of the way in and was hard to put down from there.

There is a lot packed in this story deep conversation wise that would have benefitted from being a little longer. Also, I think a little subtlety would have helped, instead of knowing the development before the story got there. The reader isn’t the naive 17 year old Doris. I do realize, I really don’t enjoy the main point of view of that of someone who relies so heavily on religion. The pov of someone who casts judgment on others sins but forgives their own.

Set in 1960s rural Georgia, Doris is a 17 year old who’s been forced to drop out of school to take care of her sick mother, and has found herself unhappily pregnant. The book is mostly set over the course of a weekend as her former teacher takes her to Atlanta to try and arrange an abortion. Along the way, Doris (who has led a very sheltered small-town life up to this point) has her eyes opened to a much wider range of possibilities for herself, as well as experiencing a glimpse of the queer culture of the era and the civil rights movement. Even though the protagonist is not explicitly queer, there are really significant side characters that are and the book gives a lot of space to the queer culture of the time. Despite the subject matter, it was a light and entertaining read, and the cameos from the civil rights activists and references to real life events helped ground the story firmly in the era. As with a lot of books set in a very limited window of time, you do sometimes find yourself wondering if everything that happens would realistically fit in, but that didn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of the book. A solid recommendation.

Oh WOW These Heathens is one of my new favorite books. It left me almost breathless and wordless as I try to summarize it and its impact. Suffice it to say that Mia McKenzie has done it again! In These Heathens, we follow 17-year-old Doris as she navigates an unexpected pregnancy in the small rural town of Millen, GA. As she seeks help from her former teacher, and embarks on a “menses-returning” mission to Atlanta, we are thrown into the front seat of her rollercoaster-ride of a journey as she discovers truths she’d hidden from or been shielded from all her life. She comes face to face with homosexuality and the biases she’d been taught through her church; abortion and the importance and struggle of safe access to reproductive healthcare; the growing civil-rights movement and the role of student activists in its power; violence vs. nonviolence as political tactics; and her own judgment and exploration of sexuality, love, and desire.

We are on this journey alongside Doris, who’s recounting the tale of her predicament and subsequent trip to Atlanta with the lovely, steadfast Mrs. Lucas. It’s told from Doris’ perspective many decades later as she addresses an insatiable rumor about who got her pregnant in the first place. We meet Coretta Scott and Martin Luther King, Jr. alongside spunky, complicated wealthy Black women dealing with the harsh realities of homophobia while finding community in their queerness. The story is positioned against the backdrop of increasing unrest as the civil-rights movement gained more and more visibility, and we travel alongside Doris for one weekend as she explores a new city, new people, new ideas, and new, unearthed pieces of herself.

I loved the premise of the book. I loved the queer rep. I loved the timeline and the way it calls us to reflect on power and justice. I adored the characters, and I couldn’t put down These Heathens, even when it would have been smart to just go to sleep!

I LOUDLY recommend this book to…anyone. It’s a fast paced, enthralling, poignant coming-of-age story with a powerful infusion of social justice and history. Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for sharing this e-arc with me!

A gloriously funny civil-rights-era bildungsroman, with a hilarious, witty, irrepressible protagonist that it is a delight to follow. This was a great story and a fascinating, unique take (including queer perspectives) on an eventful period of time.