Kirjahaku

“A tightly spun debut that wrestles with many intense ideas and ends with a knife twist that will send readers racing back to the beginning again.” —ALA Booklist (starred review)Orange Is the New Black meets Walter Dean Myers’s Monster in this gritty, twisty, and haunting story about a girl convicted of murder seeking the truth while surviving life in a group home, from New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson.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?

"Jackson’s characters and their heart-wrenching story linger long after the final page, urging readers to advocate for those who are disenfranchised and forgotten by society and the system." (Publishers Weekly, "An Anti-Racist Children's and YA Reading List")From the critically acclaimed author of Allegedly, Tiffany D. Jackson, comes a gripping novel about the mystery of one teenage girl’s disappearance and the traumatic effects of the truth.Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable—more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried.When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best—and only—friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?

Making My Spirit Smile is a memoir of a young woman's life from infancy to young adulthood and chronicles the heartbreak and lack of love she experienced; it also highlights various moments when she felt God was with her, making her spirit smile even when she couldn't do it so outwardly.In addition to sharing painful memories, the author encourages readers to find their own bright spots in dark times. She provides frank descriptions of mental, physical, and sexual abuse while also sharing ways in which she attempted to rise above and seek out safe spaces and helpful adults. Making My Spirit Smile is a self-aware read, and you will learn how she forgave at times as she reflects on the adults who inflicted harm upon her.