Award Winning Author Jas Hammonds Returns With Thirsty

Published: July 2, 2024, 3 p.m.

Jas\xa0Hammond\u2019s debut novel,\xa0WE DESERVE MONUMENTS\xa0won the Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award for New Talent,\xa0received\xa0B&N YA Book Award\xa0shortlist recognition, and\xa0garnered acclaim as\xa0a\xa0\u201cBest Book of the Year\u201d\xa0by BuzzFeed, People, Parents, Amazon, and more.\xa0THIRSTY,\xa0their\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0second YA novel,\xa0explores society\u2019s normalization of alcoholism through protagonist, Blake, who\u2019s trying to gain admittance into an elite sorority while coming to terms with her alcohol addiction.\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0It\u2019s the summer before college and eighteen-year-old Blake Brenner and her girlfriend, Ella, have one goal: join the mysterious and exclusive Serena Society. The sorority promises status and lifelong connections to a network of powerful, trailblazing women of color. Ella\u2019s acceptance is a sure thing\u2014she\u2019s the daughter of a Serena alum. Blake, however, has a lot more to prove.\xa0As a former loner from a working-class background, Blake lacks Ella\u2019s pedigree and confidence. Luckily, she finds courage at the bottom of a liquor bottle. When she drinks, she\u2019s bold, funny, and unstoppable\u2014and the Serenas love it. But as pledging intensifies, so does Blake\u2019s drinking, until it\u2019s seeping into every corner of her life. Ella assures Blake that she\u2019s\xa0fine; partying hard is what it takes to make the cut . . .\xa0But success has never felt so much like drowning. With her future hanging in the balance and her past dragging her down, Blake must decide how far she\u2019s willing to go to achieve her glittering dreams of success\u2014and how much of herself she\u2019s willing to lose in the process.

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