Avery Anderson

Content Warning: This section of the guide references racism, colorism, anti-gay bias, anti-fat bias, emotional abuse, and terminal illness. Avery Anderson is the narrator and <a data-internal-link data-link-type="Literary Device" href="https://www.supersummary.com/protagonist/">protagonist</a> of We Deserve Monuments. Avery begins the novel uncertain how her identity as a pansexual teenager will be received in Bardell, only to increasingly recognize the subtler forms of bias that she encountered in her hometown of Washington DC. Avery also feels some anxiety, in the early parts of the text, about her relationship to Blackness, due to her (white) ex-girlfriend’s comments that she was “barely Black.” Though Avery does not articulate a resolution to these anxieties, her increasing connection to her family history and the way she and her relatives have faced (and continue to face) anti-Black racism indicates a diminished sense of anxiety over this issue. Instead, as the novel continues, her identity as a Black teenager decreasingly contains echoes of Kelsi’s racist comment. Avery faces tension regarding past familial trauma and ongoing racist violence. Though she spends much of the novel arguing for answers about the longstanding animosity between Letty and Zora (and later Carole), she finds that learning the answers to these questions is painful in a different way.

Letty Harding/Mama Letty

Zora Harding Anderson

Simone Cole

Jade Oliver

Values & Ideas

Books on Justice & Injustice

Life & Time

Childhood & Youth

Coming-of-Age Journeys

Society

Community

Relationships

Family

Sexuality

LGBTQ Literature

Mortality & Death

Pride Month Reads

Genres

Romance

The Best of "Best Book" Lists

Jas Hammonds

Novel

Fiction

Guide

Study Guide

title

content

Overview

Get ready to explore We Deserve Monuments and its meaning. Our full analysis and study guide provides an even deeper dive with character analysis and quotes explained to help you discover the complexity and beauty of this book.

We Deserve Monuments Summary and Study Guide

Background

We Deserve Monuments Background

chapter

chapterType

section

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

We Deserve Monuments Chapters 1-5 Summary & Analysis

Chapter 6-Interlude 5

We Deserve Monuments Chapter 6-Interlude 5 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 12-16

We Deserve Monuments Chapters 12-16 Summary & Analysis

Chapters 17-21

We Deserve Monuments Chapters 17-21 Summary & Analysis

Chapter 22-Interlude 11

We Deserve Monuments Chapter 22-Interlude 11 Summary & Analysis

character

Character Analysis

We Deserve Monuments Character Analysis

theme

Themes

We Deserve Monuments Themes

Symbols & Motifs

We Deserve Monuments Symbols & Motifs

quote

citation

Important Quotes

We Deserve Monuments Important Quotes with Page Numbers

primaryCharacter

Essay Topics

We Deserve Monuments Essay Topics

We Deserve Monuments

Character Analysis

Featured Collections