The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley - ISBN: 9781405967969
Paperback
Teen moms find strength, love, and betrayal under the Florida sun.
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The Girls Who Grew Big

$22.87

  • Paperback

    352 pages

  • Release Date

    27 October 2026

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Summary

From the author of the Booker nominated, international bestseller Nightcrawling - a novel about the joys and entanglements of a fierce group of teenage mothers in a Florida beach town.

Adela, Emory, and Simone - three young women bound by chance, motherhood, and defiance.

When Adela Woods is sent to her grandmother’s house in a forgotten Florida beach town to have her baby in secret, she expects to return home unchanged. Instead, she meets Emory, who is determined to …

Book Details

ISBN-13:9781405967969
ISBN-10:140596796X
Author:Leila Mottley
Publisher:Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint:Penguin Books Ltd
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:352
Release Date:27 October 2026
Weight:246g
Dimensions:197mm x 131mm x 24mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

Breathtaking and gut-punching. Mottley’s world truly won’t leave me. I think about it almost every day * Candice Carty-Williams *
Written in big, beautiful prose that expands throughout the novel and leaves the reader full and satisfied … Leila Mottley’s grasp of human nature is unmatched * Candice Carty-Williams *
Mottley is a dazzling writer and this novel opens up the world of young mothers in all its makeshift, sticky, struggling glory. The Girls Who Grew Big is sensuous, gripping, and utterly believable * Emma Donoghue *
This broken world is lucky to have Leila Mottley writing in it … Mottley is the real deal—a vital voice in the American literary tapestry, giving us a full, empathetic understanding of the parts of life the rest of culture tells us to ignore. * Kaitlyn Greenidge, author of Libertie *
With impeccable and breathtaking prose, Mottley takes us into the treacherous terrain where girlhood and womanhood collide … The Girls live out loud and are flawed, tender, and absolutely unforgettable. Mottley continues to show us the power and beauty of her pen! * Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies *
Raw, wild, and achingly beautiful, The Girls Who Grew Big is one of the most spiritually accurate and electric portrayals of motherhood I’ve ever read. Leila Mottley is the real deal * Rufi Thorpe, author of Margo’s Got Money Troubles *
A big-hearted story … Mottley’s refreshing, no-holds-barred approach sees her join the ranks of other Gen-Z novelists who are reinventing how motherhood is portrayed in literature * i paper *
Mottley’s tough, vital lyricism drives a fiercely compassionate novel about survival, hope, and love * Daily Mail *
Striking * The New Yorker *
Blistering, wise, empathetic … Mottley has brought the physicality and pain and beauty of birth and new motherhood into the light * New York Times Book Review *

About The Author

Leila Mottley

Leila Mottley is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Nightcrawling, an Oprah’s Book Club pick and a book that made Mottley the youngest-ever Booker Prize nominee. She is also the author of the poetry collection woke up no light and was the 2018 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate. Mottley was born and raised in Oakland, California, where she continues to live.

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