Jas

Hammonds

Award Winning Author

Young Adult Novelist

Travels from: Newark, NJ

“Hammonds delivers a breathtaking exploration of vital issues wrapped up in a mystery, challenging readers to reexamine their own truths. A must-purchase for all libraries serving high school readers.” ― School Library Journal

Jas Hammonds (they/she) was raised in many cities and between the pages of many books. They have received support for their writing from the Highlights Foundation, Baldwin for the Arts and Lambda Literary. They are also a grateful recipient of the MacDowell James Baldwin Fellowship.

Their debut novel, We Deserve Monuments, won the 2023 Coretta Scott King – John Steptoe Award for New Talent, in addition to being a B&N YA Award finalist, an Indies Introduce and Indie Next Pick, and an indie bestseller. Jas loves writing for and about queer Black people. She lives in New Jersey with her partner and dog in an apartment full of plants and books.

We Deserve Monuments

Roaring Brook Press |

November 29, 2022

Young Adult

Family secrets, a swoon-worthy romance, and a slow-burn mystery collide in We Deserve Monuments, a YA debut from Jas Hammonds that explores how racial violence can ripple down through generations.

What’s more important: Knowing the truth or keeping the peace?

Seventeen-year-old Avery Anderson is convinced her senior year is ruined when she’s uprooted from her life in DC and forced into the hostile home of her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The tension between Avery’s mom and Mama Letty makes for a frosty arrival and unearths past drama they refuse to talk about. Every time Avery tries to look deeper, she’s turned away, leaving her desperate to learn the secrets that split her family in two.

While tempers flare in her avoidant family, Avery finds friendship in unexpected places: in Simone Cole, her captivating next-door neighbor, and Jade Oliver, daughter of the town’s most prominent family―whose mother’s murder remains unsolved.

As the three girls grow closer―Avery and Simone’s friendship blossoming into romance―the sharp-edged opinions of their small southern town begin to hint at something insidious underneath. The racist history of Bardell, Georgia is rooted in Avery’s family in ways she can’t even imagine. With Mama Letty’s health dwindling every day, Avery must decide if digging for the truth is worth toppling the delicate relationships she’s built in Bardell―or if some things are better left buried.

BIPOC Authors, Coming of Age, Fiction, Gender & Sexuality, LGBTQI+, Overcoming Trauma, Racial Issues, Romance, Young Adult

We Deserve Abundance

Told through the lens of my debut novel, We Deserve Monuments, this talk would focus on the importance of diversity in YA Literature.

Let's Build Monuments

An empowering workshop for young adults that focuses on the concepts of monuments: Who deserves them and who gets to make that choice? What can a monument look like?

With people actively trying to erase our country’s often bloody and brutal history, it’s more important than ever to think about how important figures and events are memorialized and remembered.

Beyond Stigmas: Talking about mental health and alcohol addiction

This talk would tie in nicely with my forthcoming second novel which is about toxic drinking and party culture. I would talk about my journey with alcohol, getting sober, and deeply it was entwined with my mental health. The sobriety space is largely dominated by white people, and I think having a space for queer Black young people would be really beneficial for high schoolers and college crowds.

“[My students] really engaged with your book and it was a pleasure to teach it.” ― Sarah Levine, Teacher, LGBTQ Writers in School, 2023

“Hammonds’s debut is an outstanding, emotional novel that uncovers decades of familial secrets in a racist Southern town. Family, love, prejudice, death, trauma, sexuality and identity are all examined with care and subtlety. Hammonds is thoughtful as they showcase many kinds of love stories, both romantic and familial, and their deliberate and steady plotting connects the lives of the three generations of women.” ― Shelf Awareness, Starred Review of We Deserve Monuments, 2023

“We Deserve Monuments gives us a complex and deeply injured family, and shows a path to healing.” ― NPR

“A gripping portrayal of the South’s inherent racism and a love story for queer Black girls.” ― Teen Vogue

“Hammonds seamlessly weaves together mystery, romance, and a town’s racist history, crafting a gripping and emotional story. A love story―romantic and familial―that is a must-read.” ― Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“[An] absolutely stunning debut… Written from a place of love and healing, Hammonds’ definitive standout will stay with readers.” ― Booklist, Starred review

“Life, identity, love, death―it’s all here. We Deserve Monuments marks a noteworthy debut from a writer paving her own literary future.” ― BookPage, Starred Review

“We Deserve Monuments is an absolutely beautiful achievement. I felt this book in my heart, in my very marrow itself.” ― Christina Hammonds Reed, New York Times bestselling author of The Black Kids

“We Deserve Monuments is an exquisite story about the value of family, the danger of long-held secrets, and the beauty of first love. I can’t wait to read everything Jas Hammonds writes.” ― Brandy Colbert, award-winning author of The Voting Booth and Little & Lion

“Jas Hammonds’ new book is stunning, and makes for essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the generational trauma of racist violence in the South.” ― LitHub

“A pull-you-heart-out-with-its-teeth novel. . . [these] characters feel like real people, and so their big love, aches, and humor feel real too. Though the prose, plot, themes, and characters are expertly executed, Avery, the protagonist, carries the voice. Queer kids, Black kids, biracial kids ― and everyone else ― will find so much of themselves in her.” ― Chicago Review of Books

Jas’ Press Link

Honors, Awards & Recognition

2023 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent Winner
2023 Barnes & Noble YA Award Finalist
Indie Bestseller
2023-2024 Green Mountain Book Award Nominee
2023-2024 Keystone to Reading Finalist
2024 Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominee
2022 Black Caucus of the American Library Association Best of the Best Booklist Finalist
6 Starred Reviews (Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, Bookpage, Publishers Weekly, Shelf Awareness, Booklist)
#1 Indie Next Pick November/December 2022
Summer/Fall 2022 Indies Introduce Pick
2022 Baldwin for the Arts Fellow
2020 Macdowell James Baldwin Fellow
2018 Lambda Literary Fellow