Synopses & Reviews
4 starred reviews
Orange Is the New Black meets Walter Dean Myer's Monster in this gritty, twisty, and haunting debut by Tiffany D. Jackson about a girl convicted of murder seeking the truth while surviving life in a group home.
Mary B. Addison killed a baby.
Allegedly. She didn't say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: a white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it?
There wasn't a point to setting the record straight before, but now she's got Ted--and their unborn child--to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary's fate now lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But does anyone know the real Mary?
Review
"Searing and true....[An] indictment of the penal system's decimating power beyond its bars and, more subtly and refreshingly, a pro-reproductive-justice novel." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"Suspenseful without being emotionally manipulative, compelling without resorting to shock value, this is a tightly spun debut....[it] ends with a knife twist that will send readers racing back to the beginning again." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"The characters are complex, the situation unsettling, and the line between right and wrong hopelessly blurred....intensely relevant, addressing race, age, and mental illness within the criminal justice system....[A]n absorbing and exceptional first novel." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Review
"[A]n unflinching portrayal....This dark, suspenseful exploration of justice and perception raises important questions teens will want to discuss." School Library Journal (Starred Review)
Review
"A riveting, gut-wrenching thriller and a stunning debut." Daniel José Older, New York Times bestselling author of Shadowshaper
Synopsis
4 starred reviews
Orange Is the New Black meets Walter Dean Myer's Monster in this gritty, twisty, and haunting debut by Tiffany D. Jackson about a girl convicted of murder seeking the truth while surviving life in a group home.
Mary B. Addison killed a baby.
Allegedly. She didn't say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: a white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it?
There wasn't a point to setting the record straight before, but now she's got Ted--and their unborn child--to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary's fate now lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But does anyone know the real Mary?
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Booklist (starred review)
About the Author
Tiffany D. Jackson is the author of Allegedly, Monday's Not Coming, and Let Me Hear a Rhyme. A TV professional by day, novelist by night, she received her bachelor of arts in film from Howard University and her master of arts in media studies from the New School. A Brooklyn native, she is a lover of naps, cookie dough, and beaches, currently residing in the borough she loves, most likely multitasking. You can visit her online at www.writeinbk.com.