Kalela Williams’ TANGLEROOT reviewed by the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

When Noni’s academic mother, Dr. Radiance Castine, accepts a new position as President of Stonepost College in Magnolia, Virginia, she drags Noni along, forcing the seventeen-year-old to abandon her friends and a once-in-a-lifetime internship designing costumes for professional actors. The two move into Tangleroot mansion, the plantation’s “big house” that was built by their enslaved ancestor, Cuffee Fortune. Dr. Castine believes Cuffee also founded Stonepost, and she aims to rename Stonepost in Cuffee’s honor. To say that Dr. Castine’s goals are met with disdain and pushback would be an understatement, and Stonepost board of directors is demanding proof that the college she now presides over was part of a thriving Black community in Magnolia. While Noni is now more desperate than ever to gain distance and independence from her mother, she reluctantly agrees to help her mom with her research, but the “irrefutable evidence” requested by the board will reveal a truth for which no one is truly prepared. Williams has carefully crafted an intricate narrative of family, history, and the haunting legacy of slavery in the American South. Noni’s ancestors, along with the Black community of Magnolia, were eventually swindled out of ownership of Tangleroot and their property by despicable means. The book depicts the racist characters realistically, purposely not shying away from hateful, offensive speech used by extremist groups and those who would hide behind them to keep the town’s secrets buried. The harsh content one would expect from honest storytelling that honors enslaved persons is present, but the complex family dynamics and quest to right historic wrongs will draw readers back and will them to press on.