We Deserve Monuments

Avery’s relationship with Mama Letty is strained even before Avery encourages her hostile grandmother to open up. What do you think are the most important things Avery learned from talking with Mama Letty?

After moving to Georgia, Avery decides to let go of the toxic friends and relationships she left behind in favor of the genuine and accepting friendships she found with Simone and Jade. In your opinion, what are the signs of a toxic relationship? What do you think makes a relationship worth preserving?

Avery and her new friends visit the Perfect Spot, a place where they can find comfort and the answers to their deepest questions. Of all the locations we see in Bardell—Sweetness Lane, the Renaissance, the Draper Hotel—why do you think the girls find comfort here? Do you have a similar place that you find comforting?

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and her move to Bardell, Avery reexamines her priorities for the future. Discuss how burnout, especially academic burnout in a post-COVID-19 world, is handled in this story. How does this burnout affect Avery and her connections with other people?

Avery, Jade, and Simone come from widely different backgrounds. What impact do race, class, and socioeconomic status have on how these three girls move through the world?

Avery slowly uproots the trauma at the center of her mother’s crumbling relationship with Mama Letty. Discuss how intergenerational trauma—passed down from mother to daughter— has impacted Avery’s family. How has each member coped and how did you feel as they took steps toward healing?

Throughout the book, Avery and her friends compare each other to flowers (Jade: Lavender, Simone: Sunflower, Avery: Eucalyptus). Why do you think there is such a strong connection with flowers throughout this story, and what impact does it have?

The unsolved mystery surrounding the death of Jade’s mother hovers over the town of Bardell. Did you have any initial suspects in mind while you were reading? Were you surprised by the reveal in the end? Why or why not?

We Deserve Monuments places a spotlight on the experience of queer Black women in the rural South. How are Avery’s and Simone’s experiences similar to the generation of women who came before them? In what ways are their experiences different?

In one way or another, grief has shaped the experience of every character in this book. Choose three characters and discuss their individual responses to grief. How were they changed by loss and how, if ever, did they move past it?

Towards the end of the novel, we learn what happened to Avery’s grandfather Ray, and that the men responsible haven’t faced consequences for their actions and likely never will. What are your thoughts on this? In what ways does this story echo real-world events?

If you were to build a monument in honor of the characters in this book, what would it look like?