In We Deserve Monuments we read the story of Avery as she heads down to Georgia with her parents to help care for her grandmother towards the end of her life. Grandma Letty is a hard, strong woman who wants to smoke her cigarettes and transition to the other side in her home, not the hospital, and Avery's mother has a hard time accepting this. Avery has many questions about some family secrets that need to get addressed and throughout the course of the story we journey with her in her efforts to put the pieces together.

I enjoyed how Avery is a catalyst for her mother and grandmother to repair their bond. There is a beautiful way that Avery honors the past and also questions it. She knows there are some things best kept buried and at the same time she is figuring out her own identity as a biracial young woman. Avery is carefully assessing the past to make sense of her mother's present.

Avery also comes into her own sexuality and boldly takes steps to help Simone do the same. This is a powerful coming of age story about generational healing, identity formation, and compassion as a entry point to forgiveness and relational repair.

Trigger Warnings: Racism, cancer, homophobia, colorism, past break-up, mention of Covid/pandemic, past murder of a parent, past affair, past death of a grandmother, past death of a sibling, past car crash, cursing, weed, alcohol, alcoholism, abuse, neglect, coming out, Klan, death of a grandparent on page, gun

Representation: Black, Lesbian, Bisexual

We Deserve Monuments is a YA contemporary in which Avery is ripped from her school during her senior year to move to her grandmother’s house because she is dying. Despite the move, Avery’s mother has a very chilly relationship with her mother. Avery makes friends, gets to know her grandmother, and searches for answers to the town’s unsolved mysteries.

I loved the realism in this story. I loved Avery and her courage. I thought she was so layered and vulnerable, completely relatable for a teenage girl in today’s society. As far as romance, this book is double sided. The story itself is a slow burn but Avery is coupled so fast. I thought this added to the story’s realism because young love tends to more quickly and parts of life can feel like they take forever. I also enjoyed the trace of mystery the story holds.

This book provides the readers with all of the emotions and I think the author did a fantastic job incorporating such a life-like experience into the story. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I wasn’t sure I would based on the synopsis but I am so glad I read it!

This book was full of unexpected turns. This book takes place within three generations of a family. The main character is a Biracial lesbian who moves to her mothers home town to live with her parents, and her ailing grandmother. The journey of self discovery and values speaks from the heart and crosses those generations to heal a hurt that was spanned decades. Secret are revealed and nothing is as it seems. This beautiful tale left nothing to be desired.

Trigger Warnings: Generational trauma, racism, mentions of alcoholism and verbal abuse, homophobia, character death

Avery Anderson’s life is uprooted when her family moves from Washington DC to Bardell, Georgia her senior year of high school to look after her maternal grandmother, Mama Letty, who’s in her final stages of cancer. Avery only remembers one visit with her grandmother, cut short by an argument, when she was very young. Bardell is a small town with only two high schools - one public, and one private, the latter being founded by one of the town’s many racist forefathers. Avery quickly gets adopted into the friendship of two girls: Simone Cole, Mama Letty’s next door neighbor, and Jade Oliver, a descendent of one of Bardell’s oldest families.

Avery’s relationship with her grandmother is far from easy. Mama Letty isn’t easy to get to know, especially when she only answers questions in grunts and gruffs. It also doesn’t help that the tension between her mother and grandmother is so thick you can cut it with a knife, but both of them are refusing to address it.

Avery sets out on trying to mend the broken and split relationship but there are events many are refusing to talk about. It isn’t until Mama Letty begins to open up to Avery about her past, that Avery is able to piece together her family history that was shaped by the town’s racist history. As more events come out of the shadows, Avery must decide if finding out the truth is worth damaging the relationships she’s built in Bardell, or if some things are better left buried.

I absolutely loved and adored this book very much. Jas Hammonds masterfully tells this layered story of a young woman finding out about her family’s past within a novel that’s about generational trauma and racism. The amount of trauma the three generations of women must peel back is constantly met with tension. The story is hard to read at times, especially when you’re reading about Mama Letty’s past and the town’s racism, but this book wrapped its arms around me and refused to let go until the Harding family’s story is told.

Alongside Avery finding out about her family’s past, the relationship between Simone and Avery grows deeper and the way the two of them find their footing to their sexuality was well written. I wish I had grown up with a place like The Renaissance where you were accepted no matter what.

Overall, this novel is going to be one I’m going to talk about for months to come. It was beautiful, heartbreaking, hopeful, and captivating. Any readers who love reading about family and their dynamics, relationships, and hope will really enjoy this book.

*Thank you Roaring Brook Press and NetGalley for an electronic version of this book in exchange for an honest review

This was a great story--complex characters, family history, some intrigue/murdery backstory, slow burn love, and a family that you want to root for. I'll definitely purchase it for my HS library. I could see it being a rich title for book clubs.

All the characters in this book are wonderfully complex. The story deals with the reality of intergenerational trauma while giving the reader hope for the future of families. Avery is a well-rounded character with lots of growth as the story progresses. Her journey of self-discovery as a queer biracial woman facing trauma and racism is something everyone should read. Avery's friends, Jade and Simone, are their own people working through their own problems; they are never just plot devices. Similarly, every background and secondary character-from the bully who called Simone a "lesbian" as an insult to the friend's icy stepmother-serve a purpose in the novel. Nothing and no one is arbitrary. On the other hand, the narrative does not read like a piece of classical literature. The dialogue is realistic and peppered with current slang and language. (My only regret is that it may be too current. Some references like the acronym "MAGA" may take future readers some time to figure out, and I am not sure the connotation "conservative followers of President Trump" will come across as easily as it will to contemporary readers.) There was a slight mystery indicated throughout the book, and the author slams a plot twist into the end without really expounding on it. I also wanted a little more in the epilogue about where each girl ended up and their relationships to one another. However, neither of these detracted from the emotional impact of the ending enough to lower my rating.

I’m not personally into slow-burn contemporary novels, but I still liked this one because it is well written and explores complicated family issues that many teens can relate to. Avery’s family dynamic feels very real and I think teens will feel seen by this book.

WE DESERVE MONUMENTS by Jas Hammonds is exquisite. It’s one I will have to buy many copies of because I can’t wait to literally press it into the hands of people who I know will love Mama Letty and Avery as much as I do.

The characters in this novel as so well developed; the main characters felt like people I knew, people in my own family. Mama Letty could have been my grandmother—she jumped out of the book the minute I met her on the page. A few of the smaller characters, like Avery’s dad, felt a little one-dimensional, but it’s more of a quibble than an issue with the story.

I especially loved the portrayal of this small town, its secrets and power structure, and its mysteries. It felt very rooted in character truth and in how where we live can shape us. Mama Letty’s story was infuriating and heartbreaking and absolutely believable.

The struggle I had with this book was that I wanted to know the full story that I read it very quickly but yet I also didn’t want it to end. The writing is very strong and I look forward to re-reading the novel so that I can pay more attention to the writing.

Ultimately, WE DESERVE MONUMENTS cost me a night’s sleep and a box of tissues to mop up my tears. I can’t wait to recommend this novel to other people, including my students, so they can inhabit this world for a little while, too.

It was a slow start but I really loved the character development and family dynamics in this small town full of so many secrets. I loved the queer representation and as a person from the South, so much of the setting was relatable. So good. I cant wait to read something else from herr

A novel about finding yourself in a small town versus the city you grew up in. I think it's lovely to watch Avery figure herself out--even though she comes down to her mother's hometown with her lip piercing and being out, she still manages to find out a lot about herself. Of course the town is its own character, with a few short chapters, which set it up for some of the interesting local issues. There are a few mysterious happenings in the past that hold your interest, but the main thrust is the friendship, and the relationship between Avery and her grandmother after all these years.

There were some really interesting surprises along the way, some more predictable happenings. But the writing really draws you in, and the characters feel real. Mama Letty is a great character, I loved meeting her.

This is extremely strong YA. I was instantly taken in by the characters and their very complex relationships, including one of the best portrayals of a mother and grandmother working through family trauma.

The mystery aspect is definitely a minor element until the very end. I saw the final twist coming just a few pages before it was revealed, so that was well played. Overall a very engaging read that takes young people seriously.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for this review.

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.