So many amazing books have been releasing lately and I just don’t have the time to read them all! If only I didn’t need sleep, haha. I still want to celebrate new releases, so here is a promotional post for Your Plantation Prom is Not Okay during the tour hosted by TBR and Beyond Tours. Keep on reading to find out more about this book!

Your Plantation Prom is Not Okay by Kelly McWilliams
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Publishing Date: May 2, 2023

This sharp-witted, timely novel explores cancel culture, anger, and grief, and challenges the romanticization of America’s racist past with humor and heart—for readers of Dear Martin by Nic Stone and Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson.

Harriet Douglass lives with her historian father on an old plantation in Louisiana, which they’ve transformed into one of the South’s few enslaved people’s museums. Together, while grieving the recent loss of Harriet’s mother, they run tours that help keep the memory of the past alive.

Harriet’s world is turned upside down by the arrival of mother and daughter Claudia and Layla Hartwell—who plan to turn the property next door into a wedding venue, and host the offensively antebellum-themed wedding of two Hollywood stars.

Harriet’s fully prepared to hate Layla Hartwell, but it seems that Layla might not be so bad after all—unlike many people, this California influencer is actually interested in Harriet’s point of view. Harriet’s sure she can change the hearts of Layla and her mother, but she underestimates the scale of the challenge…and when her school announces that prom will be held on the plantation, Harriet’s just about had it with this whole racist timeline! Overwhelmed by grief and anger, it’s fair to say she snaps.

Can Harriet use the power of social media to cancel the celebrity wedding and the plantation prom? Will she accept that she’s falling in love with her childhood best friend, who’s unexpectedly returned after years away? Can she deal with the frustrating reality that Americans seem to live in two completely different countries? And through it all, can she and Layla build a bridge between them?

Content Warning: racism, mentions of slavery, grief from death of a loved one

Book Links

Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
IndieBound

Tour Schedule

If you’re curious about Your Plantation Prom is Not Okay, click here for the full schedules. Other amazing bloggers and bookstagrammers are talking about this book.

About the Author

Kelly is the mixed-race author of AGNES AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2020), MIRROR GIRLS (2022), and YOUR PLANTATION PROM IS NOT OKAY (2023). AGNES was a finalist for the Golden Kite Award. She’s also written for Time, Publisher’s Weekly, and Bustle, among other outlets. She lives in Seattle with her family.

Author Links

Website
Instagram
Goodreads
Facebook

This book definitely approaches subjects that have been in the news and discussed a lot lately! Have you read any hard-hitting books lately? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.