Watch Us Rise by Renee Watson and Ellen Hagan

Jasmine and Chelsea are best friends who attend a progressive New York City high school that preaches and values social justice. But that doesn’t meant that there isn’t work to be done there. Jasmine encounters microaggressions as a black female student, and Chelsea encounters sexual harassment that the boys at her school get away with. And Jasmine and Chelsea have had enough! They decide to start a club called Write Like a Girl, where they can post online and raise awareness about feminist issues at their school, in their community, and in society in general. But when their blog becomes the target of trolls, their principal threatens to shut down their club.

I loved this book because it looks at feminist issues through an inter sectional lens. So much of feminist history erases what black women have encountered and still encounter in society throughout their lives. But this book brings it many feminist issues together, which is the way it should be. Renee Watson’s chapters from Jasmine’s point of view allow her to speak her own truth, and Ellen Hagan’s chapters from Chelsea’s point of view are supportive and even show us that even some of the most socially aware feminists can still learn something new every day.

Darcy Lepore
Library Director

Available at the Langley Adams Library