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Review: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

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Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

Legendborn (The Legendborn Cycle #1)
Tracy Deonn
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published September 15, 2020

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About Legendborn

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus.

A flying demon feeding on human energies.

A secret society of so-called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down.

And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw.

The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates.

She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

My Review

This series has been on my reading list for a long time, but I finally made the time to read Legendborn this year. I’d heard great things about it, so I was excited to get straight into the story.

Right away, I loved Bree. She’s still processing her mom’s sudden death, which happened right before the story began. All the way through the story, she’s driven by this yearning to connect to her mom, to understand what happened, and why. I found that intensely relatable.

The magical world that she infiltrates is deeply ritualistic and tradition-centric, and very white, as you might expect from something based on King Arthur and his knights. I loved the way that Tracy Deonn unapologetically relates Bree’s experience as a Black girl in those spaces. Connecting that history down through the American colonies and the Confederacy, all the way to Bree’s present, gave the story a rich, sometimes painful, context.

I also love the character arcs between Bree, Nick, and Selwyn. I think I know where the story is headed, and I love that the shifts in the relationships feel natural and experiential. I’m so eager to read more of this series. All the praise I’ve heard has been well-deserved.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Several different branches of magical ability exist and are conducted in different ways. One group borrows power from ancestors, repaying it with their own energy or sacrifices. Another group steals power from elsewhere, accruing a debt that will someday come due.

A line of magic wielders descended from King Arthur and his knights continues to use magic to fight demons who slip through gates from other worlds.

Violent Content
Brief racist statements and microaggressions. References to a car accident that killed Bree’s mom. (Happens off scene.) Situations of peril. Battles against creatures called demons made of dark magic from another world. References to assault (not shown on scene).

Brief battle scenes with injuries.

Drug Content
References to drinking alcohol at formal social gatherings.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from the library. All opinions are my own.

Review: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (The Logan Family Saga #4)
Mildred D. Taylor
Dial Books
Published January 5, 2016

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About Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry

Mildred D. Taylor’s Newbery Award-winning masterpiece with an introduction written and read by Jacqueline Woodson, just in time for its 40th anniversary!

Set in Mississippi at the height of the Depression, this is the story of one family’s struggle to maintain their integrity, pride, and independence in the face of racism and social injustice. And it is also Cassie’s story – Cassie Logan, an independent girl who discovers over the course of an important year why having land of their own is so crucial to the Logan family, even as she learns to draw strength from her own sense of dignity and self-respect.

My Review

I first read this book in fourth grade, but I wanted to revisit the story again. I remembered it being incredibly powerful– and it is. Cassie’s strength and boldness make her such a great character as she grapples with the difference between how she sees herself and how her white neighbors treat her. Her understanding of justice and fairness and the pain she feels when the town she lives in reveals itself as an unjust, unfair place hits deep.

The story shows the ugliness of Jim Crow laws, segregation, and racism, but also highlights the power of community, family bonds, and determination. Because we see the world through Cassie’s youthful gaze, the story stays within a child’s understanding. Many of the cruel or violent acts take place off-scene and are either recounted to Cassie later or only hinted at.

The version of the book that I read included an author’s note in which Mildred D. Taylor talked about the inspiration for her book and the song by the same title that appeared in her mind one day. As the final scenes of the story played out, I thought again about the way that the characters cry out for justice in an unjust system, and how the rain, more than once, opens an avenue for justice or aid for them.

There are a lot more books in this series than I initially realized. Some are novellas. I’ve only ever read this and Let the Circle Be Unbroken, but I’m anxious to read the other stories about the Logan family.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some brief use of the n-word.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
References to attending church and revival services.

Violent Content
References to racially motivated crimes against Black people. Cassie learns that white men lit three Black men on fire in a nearby town. A white man wrenches her arm behind her back and forces her off the sidewalk before demanding that she apologize for refusing to move for a white girl. Cassie speaks up when a white store owner leaves off filling her friend’s order to assist white customers. The store owner throws her out of the shop. Cassie hears about a violent robbery. An injured boy tells Cassie that two young white men attacked him. A white man shoots a Black man on the road.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from the public library. All opinions are my own.

Review: Silenced Voices by Pablo Leon

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Silenced Voices: Reclaiming Memories from the Guatemalan Genocide
Pablo Leon
HarperAlley
Published September 2, 2025

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About Silenced Voices

In this moving intergenerational tale perfect for fans of Messy Roots and Illegal, Eisner-nominated creator Pablo Leon combines historical research of the Dos Erres Massacre with his own experiences as a Guatemalan immigrant to depict a powerful story of family, sacrifice, survival, and hope.

Langley Park, Maryland, 2013.

Brothers Jose and Charlie know very little about the life their mother lived before she came to Maryland. In fact, Clara avoids even telling people she’s from Guatemala. So when Jose grows curious about the ongoing genocide trial of former military leader Efrain Rios Montt, at first the questions he asks Clara are shut down—he and Charlie were born here, after all, and there’s no reason to worry about places they haven’t been. But as the trial progresses, Clara begins to slowly open up to her sons about a time in her life that she’s left buried for years.

Dos Erres, Guatemala, 1982.

Sisters Clara and Elena hear about the civil war every day, but the violence somehow seems far away from their small village of Dos Erres, a Q’eqchi Maya community tucked away in the mountains of Guatemala. They spend their days thinking of other things—Clara, of gifts to bring her neighbors and how to perfect her mother’s recipes, and Elena, of rock music and her friend Ana, whose family had to flee to the US the year before. But the day the Kaibiles come to Dos Erres and destroy everything in their path, the sisters are separated as they flee through the mountains, leaving them to wonder…Have their paths diverged forever?

My Review

Kudos to authors like Pablo Leon who draw attention to important parts of recent history. The story begins in 2013 and shows the two brothers and their mother living in Maryland. As Jose becomes curious about his mother’s life in Guatemala and the Montt’s trial for genocide, we begin to see scenes from Clara and Elena’s lives as young women fleeing the violence.

The graphic panels keep the story moving, showing the characters’ emotional reactions and allowing readers to fill in some of what’s left unsaid about the terror and injustice they face. The story shifts between the past and present timeline smoothly. I didn’t find it confusing.

The author includes facts about Montt’s trial and the frustrating outcome. It also helps to add context to reasons people immigrate from places like Guatemala and how the U.S. involvement sometimes exacerbates instability in the region. Both the discussion about the real history and the context of these events when considering current issues like immigration are important. I love that this book offers this story inspired by real events as a graphic novel, making it very accessible to teen readers.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
References to genocide and warfare. Racist statements against indigenous people.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed a copy of this book from the library. All opinions are my own.

Review: The House on Rondo by Debra J. Stone

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The House on Rondo
Debra J. Stone
University of Minnesota Press
Published October 7, 2025

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About The House on Rondo

A young girl reckons with the demolition of a Black Saint Paul neighborhood to make way for the Interstate in the early 1960s

When thirteen-year-old Zenobia has to leave her friends and spend the summer at Grandma’s while Mama recovers from a stroke, life seems so unfair. But then the eviction letters start arriving throughout her grandparents’ neighborhood, and white men chalk arrows to mark the gas and water lines, and a new world of unfairness unfolds before her. It’s 1963, and Zenobia’s grandparents’ house on Rondo Avenue in Saint Paul—like all the homes in this thriving Black community—is targeted for demolition to make way for the new Interstate Highway 94.

As Zenobia gradually learns about what’s planned for the Rondo neighborhood and what this means for everyone who lives there, she discovers how her story is intertwined with the history of her family, all the way back to Great Grandma Zenobia and the secrets Grandma Essie held close about the reason for her light skin. With the destruction of the neighborhood looming, Zenobia takes a stand on behalf of her community, joining her no-nonsense neighbor, onetime cowgirl Mrs. Ruby Pearl, in a protest and ultimately getting arrested. Though Zenobia is grounded for a month, her punishment seems of little consequence in comparison to what is happening all around her. Even though the demolition continues, she is proud to discover the power and connection in protesting injustice.

The House on Rondo captures the heartbreak, resistance, and resilience that marks a community sacrificed in the name of progress—a “progress” that never seems to favor Black families and neighborhoods and that haunts cities like Saint Paul to this day. As Zenobia learns what can be destroyed and what cannot, her story teaches us that joy, community, and love persist, even amid violence and loss.

My Review

This is part novel and part historical account of the destruction of a Black neighborhood in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1963. The characters are fictional, but the home where Zenobia lives was a real place with the history mentioned in the book. The book includes photographs of the places mentioned or of similar events and people.

The narrative begins and ends with Zenobia’s perspective. As the story introduces new characters, a short chapter shows readers pertinent scenes from that person’s history or present. For example, after Zenobia’s dad drives the children to their grandmother’s house, he thinks back on his wife’s recent stroke.

Zenobia is a curious, intelligent girl who’s old enough to have questions about what’s happening to the neighborhood. She visits neighbors and talks to her friends. This creates a picture of the neighborhood as a whole unit. It shows how the individual families can relocate, but the community is lost. It also shows how hard people worked for their homes and how poorly the government treated them.

The historical information throughout the book really sets this one apart. It anchors the story in a particular time and paints a vivid picture. Lots of young readers won’t know about the events described in the book. The compelling characters keep the story engaging, too.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 to 14.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing. (Between adults)

Spiritual Content
Zenobia encounters a spirit of a boy who died in her grandmother’s house long ago.

Violent Content
Two people participate in a sit-in protest and are arrested by police. A child finds a woman who has passed away from a medical issue.

Drug Content
One character’s mom is an alcoholic.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Thirsty: A Novel by Jas Hammonds

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Thirsty: A Novel
Jas Hammonds
Roaring Brook Press
Published May 14, 2024

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Thirsty: A Novel

It’s the summer before college and eighteen-year-old Blake Brenner and her girlfriend, Ella, have one goal: join the mysterious and exclusive Serena Society. The sorority promises status and lifelong connections to a network of powerful, trailblazing women of color. Ella’s acceptance is a sure thing—she’s the daughter of a Serena alum. Blake, however, has a lot more to prove.

As a former loner from a working-class background, Blake lacks Ella’s pedigree and confidence. Luckily, she finds courage at the bottom of a liquor bottle. When she drinks, she’s bold, funny, and unstoppable—and the Serenas love it. But as pledging intensifies, so does Blake’s drinking, until it’s seeping into every corner of her life. Ella assures Blake that she’s fine; partying hard is what it takes to make the cut.

But success has never felt so much like drowning. With her future hanging in the balance and her past dragging her down, Blake must decide how far she’s willing to go to achieve her glittering dreams of success—and how much of herself she’s willing to lose in the process.

My Review

What an incredible book. I felt as though I was right there with Blake, riding the high of being deeply in love and long summer days. But even from the early pages, you get this sense that something is off. Blake doesn’t see it yet, and at first I thought maybe it was just me not buying into the narrative.

(Can we pause for a sec and just appreciate the kind of writing that can do that? Draw you into a story so completely that you both root for the main character and suspect she’s lying to herself? Amazing.)

As the story progresses, it becomes crystal clear that Blake’s relationship with Ella comes at a high personal cost. Even though Blake loves her. Even though Ella loves Blake.

I don’t want to give away what happens, but I do want to say that I appreciate that Hammonds doesn’t end the story where I expected. We follow Blake into the first chapters a life she couldn’t have imagined at the start of the story. We get to see the working out of some of her choices. I love that, and I think that kind of representation is incredibly important in young adult literature.

Thirsty is the second book by Jas Hammonds that I’ve read. Their debut, We Deserve Monuments was fantastic, and yet, somehow, I think Thirsty might be even better. I’m pretty sure Hammonds is now a must-read author for me.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used fairly frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing, references to sex and showering/undressing together.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Non-consensual outing. Transphobic rhetoric. Toxic relationship elements. Racial microaggressions. Suicidal ideation and self-hate.

Drug Content
Blake and other teens drink alcohol and smoke using a vape pen. While a lot of scenes show drinking, they also show the consequences and regrets that Blake has later. The scenes explore the harm that drinking causes. The character who smokes decides to quit during the book.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War and Rewrote History by Ann Bausum

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White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War and Rewrote History
Ann Bausum
Roaring Brook Press
Published August 12, 2025

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About White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War and Rewrote History

This powerful and unflinching examination of racism in America by award-winning historian Ann Bausum deconstructs the warped history of the Civil War for teen readers, perfect for fans of STAMPED, JUST MERCY, and ACCOUNTABLE.

Warning: This is not your average U.S. history book.

After the Civil War, the Confederates may have laid down their arms, but they were far from accepting defeat. By warping the narrative around what really happened during and after the Civil War, they created an alternate history now known as the Lost Cause. These lies still manifest today through criticism of Critical Race Theory, book banning, unequal funding for education, and more.

This book sets the record straight and explains the true history of the Civil War, and its complex and far-reaching aftermath. Written by historian and award-winning author Ann Bausum, White Lies is an impeccably researched chronicle filled with photos, robust back matter, additional resources, and more that fans of Howard Zinn’s A Young People’s History of the United States will enjoy.

My Review

I grew up (and still live) in Florida. I was educated in the public school system, and have vivid memories of history lessons that romanticized the Confederacy. The Confederate battle flag still flies in places in my hometown. I see it less often today than I did in earlier decades, though. If I stand outside and throw a rock, I’ll very likely hit someone who believes the Civil War was about states rights.

All that to say that I went into this book already a believer in Bausum’s premise. I figured I’d probably be familiar with a lot of the propaganda in the book and probably not surprised by much. While I’d heard some of the information before, there were still some shocking revelations.

I really appreciate that Bausam covers the shifting perceptions about the American Civil War from wartime to 2023. Following the thread of history helped me connect the dots between historical events in ways that I was unsuccessful at before. For example, the text covers the shift in how Confederate graves are maintained/honored at Arlington National Cemetery, especially under the direction of U.S. presidents.

The book also highlights various Confederate statues and monuments. Brief acts about the monument’s creation, its location, and current status appear on a page with an image showing the statue or monument. Learning about those was interesting, too.

This is a long book. I wish there were more photographs or other formatting to visually break up the text. However, Bausum’s arguments are carefully constructed. There’s no rushing to any conclusions here. The backmatter is pretty extensive and includes a long list of sources, research notes, an author’s note, a timeline, and an index.

Conclusion

Overall, this is an incredibly helpful resource. I realized after I finished reading this that another of Bausum’s books (The Bard and the Book: How the First Folio Saved the Plays of William Shakespeare from Oblivion) is already on my reading list. I’ve added a few of her other titles about the Civil Rights movement to my reading list as well.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to marriage.

Spiritual Content
References to Chapel construction. Vague references to God in letters and quotes from historical figures.

Violent Content
References to warfare, human enslavement and trafficking. Brief descriptions of abuse of enslaved people. A few brief descriptions of murder. References to racism and hate crimes.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.