andrea's Reviews > Brooms

Thank you to NetGalley and Levine Querido for providing me with a digital arc in exchange for an honest review!

This is out October 3rd, 2023 and I highly suggest that you pick it up!

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This was such a special little graphic novel.

This book talked about magic through the lens of Mississippi in the 1930's. Magic is outlawed for black people and this little found family is secretly participating in underground broom racing to earn the money to move to a safer state before Mattie and Emma's powers are discovered and they're either whisked away to a boarding school where any traces of their inherited magic will be stamped out in favor of approved, white-washed magic or worse, taken from them the way they took powers from their cousin Louella.

This was a sweet graphic novel that was full of love and joy through the lens of a racist America. It features lesbian, trans, and disabled rep, all of which are things that I feel like a lot of historically-set stories refuse to acknowledge or explore.

I loved this a lot! I feel like the only criticism that I had was that I wish that it was longer. Scenes like Cheng-Kwan telling her parents that she's trans were great! But they also felt rushed. Though frankly, perhaps this is just me wanting about five hundred more pages of this world. Loved it!