Daughters of Jubilation by Kara Lee Corthron (review)

Corthron, Kara Lee Daughters of Jubilation. Simon, 2020 [352p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781481459501 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781481459525 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 9-12

South Carolina in 1962 is not easy on Black girls, but sixteen-year-old Evvie's doing her best, helping her mom with her little sisters, hanging out with her friends, and sparking up a romance with Clayton Alexander Jr., the most sought-after boy in town. Unfortunately, her Jubilation, or in Evvie's words, "the spooky magic shit that runs in my family," complicates things: any strong emotion can knock down a tree, send a grill up in flames, or, more happily, make rainbows for her and Clay after a particularly enjoyable makeout session. Under the tutelage of her grandmother, she's trying to better control her abilities, a task made especially urgent by the return of the perpetrator of a childhood assault, an arrogant white boy who is now targeting both Evvie and Clay. The legacy of slavery, the persistence of racism, and the intergenerational trauma experienced by Black women and girls are explored with a deft hand here. Evvie's specific experience in Jim Crow South is contextualized with commentary on the civil rights movement and the constant threat of the Klan, while the longer, entrenched history of violence against Black women is seen when Evvie meets not just her ancestors but also her granddaughter while "jubin'." Evvie's narration is bold and self-assured, and Corthron is especially good at separating out Evvie's childhood assault from her adolescent sexuality, making clear the former was an act of violence, the latter an act of pleasure over which Evvie has true agency. The ending is heartbreaking, and though Evvie is left with a bit of hope, readers will likely connect the final events of the book to current headlines with an exasperated and exhausted sigh.