Just South of Home by Karen Strong

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers! I wanted to keep the gothic vibes of October going because I'm just not ready to go fully into Christmas. May latest read is set during the hot Southern summer but it gives plenty of spookiness. There's something so satisfying sometimes about sitting back and reading a middle grade novel. 

In Just South of Home, Sarah is finally old enough to stay home by herself with her little brother Ellis during the day instead of spending the summer at her grandmother's house doing chores. However cousin Janie is threatening to ruin that when she joins the family for the summer while her mother runs to California for auditions. Janie is bored of their small Southern town and decides they should visit the remains of a church that was burned down by The Klan. The site is known for being cursed and everyone is warned not to take anything from the old church. Sticky-fingered Janie doesn't listen and ends up unleashing haints onto the town. 

I really enjoyed the small town aspect of it where everyone knew each other and the neighbors were looking out for them. I also enjoyed the tight knit Black family in this. While Mrs. Greene is strict, judgmental, uppity, and a little colorist; she's realistic. And it's interesting to see not only how the kids interact with her but how she acts in her element as a deaconess at the church.

I enjoyed seeing Sarah and Janie get to know each other more and form a real friendship. And I thought the way this story tackled their family history was very unique and interesting.  We may not always like to tackle the dark past of our country but it's important especially since so much mirrors events happening still to this day. Sarah is free to roam around her town feeling safe now but it's important to acknowledge that wasn't always the case for the Black people in her community. Mrs. Whitney, the town conjure woman goes out of her way to memorialize the victims of lynching even when other townspeople ostracize her. 

Sarah is also very interested in astrophysics and it's nice seeing her enthusiasm for learning even if it sometimes makes her the subject of bullying.  For anyone looking for positive representation of girl's interested in science this story has plenty. 

I would've loved having a book like this when I was younger because of the way it approaches these dark subjects without feeling like a history lesson and while making it interesting and readable for children. I've spoken before with some recent reviews about how sometimes the mere mention of slavery, Jim Crow, segregation, etc is enough to send some readers running in the opposite direction of a book. Sometimes it's just a matter of telling these stories in a different way we haven't seen before.