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Publish Date: January 10, 2023
Publisher: Holiday House
Genre: Historical Fiction, LGBTQIAP+, Teens/Young Adult
Page Count: 304
Description
An interracial friendship between two teenaged girls goes tragically wrong in this powerful historical novel set in the Jim Crow South.
For Lamb follows a family striving to better their lives in the late 1930s Jackson, Mississippi. Lamb’s mother is a hard-working, creative seamstress who cannot reveal she is a lesbian. Lamb’s brother has a brilliant mind and has even earned a college scholarship for a black college up north– if only he could curb his impulsiveness and rebellious nature.
Lamb herself is a quiet and studious girl. She is also naive. As she tentatively accepts the friendly overtures of a white girl who loans her a book she loves, she sets a off a calamitous series of events that pulls in her mother, charming hustler uncle, estranged father, and brother, and ends in a lynching.
Told with nuance and subtlety, avoiding sensationalism and unnecessary brutality, this young adult novel from celebrated author Lesa Cline-Ransome pays homage to the female victims of white supremacy.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Book Reaction Navigation
The Gist
Familiarity isn’t a feeling that’s hard to come by when you’re an avid reader. Initially, I wasn’t sure why For Lamb felt kin to something I’d read before. It wasn’t until I cried and triggered a childhood memory of the time that I read another book that had similar themes. If you liked Mildred D. Taylor’s, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, then you are sure to enjoy Lesa Cline-Ransome’s, For Lamb. So I did.
Told in alternating viewpoints, For Lamb is a story that left me in deep reverence for all who have put themselves in mortal danger to protect and give their loved ones a chance at a more purposeful life. In this heart-wrenching story of family, friendship, and sacrifice, Cline-Ransome highlights the significance of black women, the stability of the black family structure, and the domino effect of forbidden relationships during the Jim Crow Era of U.S. History.
What Worked for Me
Format and Characters
I appreciate the alternating viewpoints. It helped in creating rounded characters that felt real.
Pacing
The storyline, although familiar, was well-paced to the events leading up to the conflict and I was intrigued throughout.
What Did Not Work for Me
This is not something that did not work for me. It’s something I wanted to be expressed more, and that is the LGBTQIAP+ representation in the book to be a little more on the page than it was.
I understand that the book is not LGBTQIAP+ focused and I’m assuming that the minor LGBTQIAP+ representation is present according to the maturity level of the book’s target audience. Because of the other social themes present, I wonder if this would be of conversation in a reading group.
Content Warnings
Graphic
- Racism
Minor
- Racial Slurs
- Sexual Assault
Final Verdict
4/5, I recommend this book. It would be a great addition to any classroom or children’s library. It’s informative and evokes emotions and further discussion around the treatment of African Americans through time.
Many thanks to Holiday House, Lesa Cline-Ransome, and NetGalley for an Advanced Review Copy in exchange for an honest review. My review/reaction is voluntary, all thoughts are mine and unbiased, and receiving the ARC does not influence my rating and/or recommendation.
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