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Tiffany D. Jackson’s Latest Novel Centers the Vulnerability of Black Girls
The NAACP Image Award-nominated author gets deep in ‘Grown’
In 2017, right before the release of her debut YA novel Allegedly, Tiffany D. Jackson wrote at a yoga and journaling workshop in New York City that her biggest hopes were for “peace and that people would like her books.” Since then, Jackson has written four books and racked up critical acclaim, including an NAACP Image Award nomination for her debut and the Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe New Talent Award for Monday’s Not Coming.
Her latest effort, Grown, follows 17-year-old Enchanted, an aspiring singer whose whole life changes when she meets legendary R&B star Korey Fields. A connection that’s invigorating and exciting at first quickly becomes a nightmare when he’s found dead and Enchanted is the only culprit. She’s forced to peel back the layers of a painful few months of her life and work to exonerate herself while exposing a predator beloved in the public eye.
This book is about the systems that fail young Black women, labeling them grown when the adults should have known better. It’s also one of Jackson’s most personal, as she herself revealed that she was in an age-inappropriate relationship in high school as well. The book sheds light on a problem that’s all too…
