This magical tale takes a unique approach to civil rights. Billie Mae and the Night Storms race their brooms illegally. The money they can earn is worth the risk of getting caught- being the wrong color or the wrong type of people is what makes it truly dangerous for them to participate.

This is a relatively fast-paced story. I appreciate the way Walls handled issues of civil rights for both Black, Indigenous, and queer people. Though the story is set in the 1930s, many of the issues the characters are wrestling with are sadly the same ones they still navigate today.

A queer, witchy story set in 1930 Mississippi about BIPOC women / girls who team up to broom race.

This was a powerful read full of diversity! We see rep for bipoc, lgbtq+, trans, deaf, age, various body sizes as well as topics of race, marginalization, and other heavy topics handled with care. I loved the instances of friendship, sister hood, love, and the thrill of broom racing this graphic novel brought! Overall, this is a great read for the fall!

Rating: 5
Thank you Levine Querido for providing an e-copy through NetGalley.

Synopsis: It’s 1930 in Mississippi, and magic is illegal for certain people who don’t have the right papers. Most people of color are not permitted to use magic, especially Black and Native Americans, and casting spells could lead to jail, or, if caught by the wrong people, death. But that doesn’t stop the illegal use of magic, especially in unsanctioned broom racing tournaments. When society won’t provide the money (or the thrills) needed to live, broom racing is the only option. Luella was forced into residential school, where white teachers told her that she wasn’t good (read: white) enough, and they sealed her magic away for disagreeing. Now, she helps her two young cousins, Mattie and Emma, by teaching them magic and evading government officials who want to send them to the same type of awful schooling Luella had. In order to pay for official paperwork granting them freedom, Luella suggests the dangerous option of broom racing. If they win, they can pay for the documents. If they are caught, their lives will be over. But Luella has hope, for confident Billie Mae will teach the young witches how to fly. Billie is captain of the Night Storms, a racing team composed of Loretta and Cheng Kwan, both racers with something to prove. The team will teach Mattie and Emma to fly, and together, they will compete to win the money of the broom racing. But it’s a dangerous game, and they must work together to beat the cycle of oppression to let their magic survive.

What I Liked: Brooms is a witchy, historical, high-stakes YA graphic novel that follows a group of girls competing in dangerous races to earn the life they want. The story features a wide cast of characters that you don’t normally see in 1930s historical fiction and has good LQBTQA+ representation. Luella is Mexican and Choctaw, her cousins Mattie and Emma are Black and Choctaw, Billie Mae and Loretta are Black, and Cheng Kwan is Chinese American. Loretta has a physical disability (chronic joint pain), Cheng Kwan is trans, and Emma is deaf and uses sign language. In addition to their physical/ability diversity, all the characters are unique in personality, charm, and energy. Billie Mae is the headstrong fighter, Loretta is the calming voice of reason, Cheng Kwan is the careful and cautious one, Emma silent yet playful, Mattie loud and confident, and Luella is the hidden rebel. The research that went into making the graphic novel is tremendous, and the author should applaud themselves on depicting the accurate truth of a historically turbulent time and location. The authors also give us extensive notes and post-credit scenes, showing their love for the story and characters. The art is stylized realism: Everything, from faces to objects, is proportionally and realistically accurate, but it is drawn and colored with as little lines as possible and minimal shading. This gives the novel a flat (in a good way) yet detailed style that makes distinct colors and magically special effects really pop off the pages, while still steeped in the real history of it. Overall, Brooms is a wonderful historical graphic novel, a genre you don’t see too often in YA, that is both educational, engaging, and diverse.

What I Didn’t Like: Nothing!

Who Would I Recommend This To: Teens who like graphic novels featuring witches, historical fantasy, thrilling racing, and people of color being themselves in oppression.

Review Date: November 29, 2023

Brooms is one of my favorite reads of 2023.

The concept overall is very compelling, and all of the characters are interesting and likeable. I love that there was a lot of disability representation, and I thought it was illustrated very well. I know everything was wrapped up really well at the end, but I'd love to read more about broom racing in this universe.

This was a fun, magical, powerful, emotional (all the adjectives!) read—I'm so glad I waited to get my hands on the physical copy of the book because the illustrations really came to life on the page moreso than on the screen. Read this book if you want a little bit of history, magic, and found family. These characters have so much love for each other and strength in the face of deep-rooted racism.

My favorite part was actually the end pages, where we got to see what became of these beloved characters. It was so heartwarming to get a glimpse of their journeys beyond the story we'd just read.

Very well done! Story and illustrations were amazing!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this! The historical setting in Depression era Mississippi combined with the fantasy world building of magic and broom racing is so well done. The main characters are all from marginalized communities and are faced with period typical racism and racist laws. In this story, Black people aren't allowed to learn or practice magic, and Indigenous children are often taken to residential schools if their families can't pay to exempt them. In this time of scarcity and danger, this band of young women and girls compete in dangerous broom races to win prize money that will get them closer to securing safer futures for them all. The story is compelling, and I love the glimpses of backstory that reveal the early friendships between Bille Mae, Luella, Loretta, and Cheng Kwan. I especially liked how the girls learn that Cheng Kwan is trans and immediately accept her and welcome her into their friend group. The art is so good! I've been a fan of Teo DuVall's work for years, and I thoroughly enjoyed gazing upon their artwork in Brooms. The character designs are really cool; I like that there's a wide variety of body types, ages, skin tones, etc.. There's also disability rep with multiple characters, all of which is portrayed with care. I was really impressed by how this story skillfully shows these characters in all their complexities, and tells an exciting tale of magic, risk, and new beginnings. A must read!

This is such an emotional, cozy and heartwarming read! This is everything you'd expect from a perfect underdog sport story but finally made queer, and inclusive for BIPOC characters and people with disabilities and sprinkled with magic broom-racing badassery.

What I especially liked about the story is that the underground world of broom racing (it is allowed for white people only) is also queernormative and if one'd talented and determined to practice magic and broom-racing, no-one will tell them their disability would stop them from having a chance at a race.
If you want to see an underground community creating a safe haven for all the marginalized, discriminated and persecuted people, go for this book!

The beginning of the story feels a bit didactic, choosing the method of informing the reader by characters informing other characters who are all perfectly aware of what's said already but that is for the sake of the medium and pacing I guess. It gets quite fast-paced soon, while still being reflective and highly emotional.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing the ARC.

This book was so so cool! The diversity of backgrounds and identity in the historical setting is very meaningful. I loved all the characters. The color palette is gorgeous and the storyline is engaging.

Perfect

5 stars

In this alternate history, set in 1930s Mississippi, magic is generally not allowed to be performed unless you have a certain background or have the license to do so. Mattie and Emma, are starting to develop powers. After the situation with Luella, their elder cousin, the family is scared and unsure of how to protect the girls. There are the broom races where one can make money quickly. Mattie and Emma are interested and against their family's wishes, start racing to raise money for protection.

This super layered and nuanced story is a must read. Not only is there fantasy and magic, but there is a lot of discussion on abilities/disabilities, LGBTQ+ issues, race, and more. It would be great to revisit this world again. It is an absolute must read alternate history that tackles a lot of tough discussions framed around magic.

Queer found family with such good representation and well researched details. And it’s witchy and fun. I loved it !

To start, this was an amazing book worth a 5-star review.

The reason:
Brooms is a book set in 1930 Mississippi, where things are not that great for magic users of color, and the protagonists need to start participating in clandestine races to gain money and be safe.
The plot is so much more than that. The amount of research and care that was put into this graphic novel is impressive. The parallelism with the history of queer people is also great. You can sense the authors' care about the topic.
I am queer, but not from the country this is set on, so I can’t talk a lot about the history part of the book, but I am happy to see the representation of so many people with such amazing character design.
But I don’t love this novel just for the representation. All the magic and races are entertaining, and I hope to read more books like this. It left me with so many emotions, and the ending was what I hoped for.
I am thankful for the opportunity NetGalley gave me in reading this novel. It is going to be my favorite for a while.

4/5

I don't know why it took till last day of availability to read this one because it turned out into a very fun read.
It's basically a story based on brooms races and it was a very adrenalinic experience.
I honestly never read anything even close to this theme and it was very fun to both read and look at.
The drawings were very good and the story was very fast paced.
I liked how it was developed and of course ended even if I found the entire book a maybe too fast read to fully appreciate the whole story.
There's not much backstory to the characters, and the one we find is very brief and not very detailed.
A dozen more pages dedicated to some past were needed, but still a very enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed this a ton! I finished this in one sitting because I didn’t want to stop reading! It was thrilling, excellent, really well done all over.

The artwork was stunning. I liked seeing ASL and the one character has a leg brace when she rides her broom – so cool. There were a lot of blues and cool tones in the panels which I liked. But there were also warm colours as well, which was great to see.

I definitely need to make a note of the illustrator because I would love to see this type of artwork soon again. I connected to the characters quickly, not just because of the story and dialogue, but because of how they were drawn. I could tell their personalities, if they were friendly, if they would even make you a cup of tea if you were down – just from what they looked like on the page (screen).

Brooms is a stunning historical fiction, fantasy graphic novel.

This story follows a group of girls in 1930's Mississippi who use their magic to broom race to win money. This is a secretive practice as it is not allowed and if they were caught, they could be punished.

This cast of characters is extremely diverse as it is made up of Black, Choctaw and Black, Chinese, and queer girls. The story takes on racism, assimilation, residential schools, and disability. These hard hitting topics are weaved together to tell an important story about friendship, love, family, and being who you are. Many of these characters are working towards leaving the South so they can more freely live as they are.

The art and color scheme of this graphic novel perfectly emulate the witchy and magical vibe of the story.

I would highly recommend this to graphic novel lovers as well as those of you who like to read diverse stories with good representation!

I love the idea of “underground” broom races. The story was so magical and delightfully queer. I loved the found family, diverse representation, and the historical elements. The art was perfect for the story.

Rep:
Luella - Mexican and Choctaw
Mattie & Emma - Black and Choctaw, Emma is deaf and uses Indian Sign Language
Billie Mae - Black, has chronic joint pain, in a relationship with Luella
Cheng Kwan - Chinese-American, trans female
Loretta & James - Black couple, Loretta uses a leg brace because of a stroke

What a joy! Brooms was an absolute ride, pun intended. Somehow Jasmine Walls was able to bring to life a story that felt so authentic and familiar that even though it was new, I was immersed immediately. The representation was also top-notch, with queer identities, disability, and BIPOC characters, and the real historical undertones to the setting and story were well done.

I thought this was clever in the way it addresses discrimination and oppression, telling the story of forced re-education using magic. I enjoyed the artwork which is beautifully clear and well drawn. It is a lovely graphic novel for both young adults and adults alike.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

We love a graphic novel with representation! BIPOC, LGBTQ+, deafness, etc. Plus, it’s witchy! The plot and characters weren’t overly captivating, hence the lower rating. I appreciate Netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to an eARC, but I think I’ll need to stick with physical copies of graphic novels to maximize the experience.

Witchy graphic novels are so totally my jam. Just see my previous five-star posts about Coven, Over My Dead Body, and both volumes of The Okay Witch.

“Brooms” written by Jasmine Walls and illustrated by queer chicanx artist Teo Duvall only fuels that fire.

At the surface, “Brooms” is a story about magic and unsanctioned broom racing, with an unapologetically diverse cast of witches, including lesbian and trans representation, along with characters from many different racial groups.

Just below the surface, “Brooms” is an allegory for government corruption and control, set against depression-era Mississippi, and telling the story from sorely underrepresented perspectives.

Ultimately, “Brooms” highlights the unbalanced division of power, and the importance of standing up not only for what you believe to be just, but also for what you deserve.

And the illustrations are just breathtaking.