Allegedly - by Tiffany D Jackson

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"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?

From the Back Cover

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? She wouldn't say.

Mary survived six years in baby jail before being dumped in a group home. The house isn't really "home"--no place where you fear for your life can be considered a home. Home is Ted, who she meets on assignment at a nursing home.

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 must find the voice to fight her past. And her fate 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?

In this gritty and haunting debut, Tiffany D. Jackson explores the gray areas in our understanding of justice, family, and truth, acknowledging the light and darkness alive in all of us.

Review Quotes

★ "With remarkable skill, Jackson offers an unflinching portrayal of the raw social outcomes when youth are entrapped in a vicious cycle of nonparenting and are sent spiraling down the prison-for-profit pipeline. This dark, suspenseful exploration of justice and perception raises important questions teens will want to discuss." -- School Library Journal (starred review)

★ "Searing and true. Effectively joins Ava DuVernay's documentary 13th and Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow (2010) to become another 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)

★ "The characters are complex, the situation unsettling, and the line between right and wrong hopelessly blurred. It's also intensely relevant, addressing race, age, and mental illness within the criminal justice system. Well conceived and executed, this is an absorbing and exceptional first novel." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

★ "Suspenseful without being emotionally manipulative, compelling without resorting to shock value, this is 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." -- Booklist (starred review)

"Seen through Jackson's dark portrait of the legal system and the failures of parents and social workers, Mary's environments are as grim as the stories that play out in them; readers fascinated by procedural dramas will be thoroughly hooked." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"I have to admit, it's been a while since I've been this rattled by a story. Tiffany D. Jackson chips at the world, then cracks it, then shatters it into shards of discomfort and complexity for the reader to grapple with it. Allegedly, undoubtedly, will linger long after it's over." -- Jason Reynolds, award-winning author of All American Boys and The Boy in the Black Suit

"A well-executed, powerful journey into the claustrophobic life of a young girl trying to navigate what little is left after the world has judged her, and what she will do to escape it." -- Mindy McGinnis, Edgar Award-winning author of A Madness So Discreet

"A riveting, gut-wrenching thriller and a stunning debut." -- Daniel José Older, New York Times bestselling author of Shadowshaper

"Tiffany Jackson's timely and chilling debut will haunt you for a long time. An extraordinary new voice." -- Justine Larbalestier, author of Liar and My Sister Rosa