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A review by mswocreader
Daughters of Jubilation by Kara Lee Corthron
5.0
This book was a blend of darkness and joy. If the mention of Jim Crow causes you to hesitate with this book I suggest putting aside your fears and picking this up anyway. If the subject matter makes you feel uncomfortable it should. The violence and pain our ancestors have experienced some of which we still experience today is very real but still we rise.
You can read the synopsis but you never truly know what you're getting into until you open up the pages. Yes, there is violence in Daughters of Jubilation as our young heroine, Evvie navigates living in South Carolina in 1962. Sometimes it feels like she has no options and her dreams are beyond far fetched. But in the midst of those moments there is joy.
Evvie is coming into her own with her powers of jubilation. Jubilation is a hard to explain gift passed down through her bloodline from generation to generation. It can protect them when they need it the most. But right now for Evvie these powers are hard to control. And she needs her Grammie's guidance to help her get a handle of them.
All the while she is balancing new love with Clay, the boy she's crushed on for some time, babysitting a bratty white child, helping take care of her little sisters, and trying to keep the peace with her momma. As if all that isn't enough a dangerous white man from her past reappears intending to hurt her even more than he had before.
This book is written in an easy to connect to dialect and though there's violent trauma there's the joy of discovering new love, embracing your family for all that they are, and discovering yourself. The themes of finding your power resonate.
Kara Lee Corthron offers a nuanced portrayal of growing up Black in The South in the 60s under the hot summer heat trying to survive the racism and hardships thrown your way while also living life enjoying music, movies, and good food. I was lucky enough to receive an arc in exchange for honest review from the publisher.
See full review.
https://womenofcolorreadtoo.blogspot.com/2020/10/daughters-of-jubiliation-by-kara-lee.html
You can read the synopsis but you never truly know what you're getting into until you open up the pages. Yes, there is violence in Daughters of Jubilation as our young heroine, Evvie navigates living in South Carolina in 1962. Sometimes it feels like she has no options and her dreams are beyond far fetched. But in the midst of those moments there is joy.
Evvie is coming into her own with her powers of jubilation. Jubilation is a hard to explain gift passed down through her bloodline from generation to generation. It can protect them when they need it the most. But right now for Evvie these powers are hard to control. And she needs her Grammie's guidance to help her get a handle of them.
All the while she is balancing new love with Clay, the boy she's crushed on for some time, babysitting a bratty white child, helping take care of her little sisters, and trying to keep the peace with her momma. As if all that isn't enough a dangerous white man from her past reappears intending to hurt her even more than he had before.
This book is written in an easy to connect to dialect and though there's violent trauma there's the joy of discovering new love, embracing your family for all that they are, and discovering yourself. The themes of finding your power resonate.
Kara Lee Corthron offers a nuanced portrayal of growing up Black in The South in the 60s under the hot summer heat trying to survive the racism and hardships thrown your way while also living life enjoying music, movies, and good food. I was lucky enough to receive an arc in exchange for honest review from the publisher.
See full review.
https://womenofcolorreadtoo.blogspot.com/2020/10/daughters-of-jubiliation-by-kara-lee.html