October 2026 Lit Resistance
Why I chose this book:
Stephen King is widely considered to be the King of horror and is also the most banned author in North America, so when it came time to pick a book for October, Carrie seemed like an obvious choice. Carrie has been around for over 50 years and it still feels as relevant today as it did in 1974, as evidenced by the number of adaptations and retellings that keep coming out. That got me thinking about what else I could choose, and when I looked around, I decided on something that takes Carrie’s story and puts a different spin on it.
I found the story that Jackson told to be compelling. Like Carrie, it is told from multiple perspectives, and I found the inclusion of Kendrick’s experience and how it mirrors Maddy’s so closely, yet looks completely different from the outside, to be the most grounding. It really gives depth to what “passing” can look like in our culture. While Maddy and Kenny’s outside experiences look completely different, internally they both struggle with their sense of self and the loss of identity that comes from the pressure to perform whiteness in order to be accepted.
The Weight of Blood takes bullying and turns it into microaggressions, those small acts of racism that happen every day to people of color and add up to a lifetime of torment. Jackson takes King's blueprint of a girl pushed past her limit and a town that refuses to see its own cruelty, and she distills it into something more specific. This story shows us the reality of racism and the horror element gives it a genre that lets it show its teeth. While there may not be ghosts or zombies, this is horror. Horror in the obvious sense of the genre because there is blood and gore and explicit violence when Maddy takes her revenge. But also the horror of living in a small southern town with a deep history and legacy of racism and how that can impact a person’s life.
Recommended age: 14+
I also want to take a moment to acknowledge the second book I included as the extra this month. I Am Enough by Grace Byers was the first book I gave my niece when she had her first child and it is a book that I wish Maddy’s father had given her.
It's a simple book that teaches kids that they contain multitudes and they don’t have to be like everyone else. It reminds us that we all have a place here, and that we are each enough, just as we are.
This book is also on different banned and challenged book lists.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on The Weight of Blood or I am Enough in the comments below!
