Mama

Named a Most Anticipated Book of the Season by Katie Couric Media, Autostraddle, and Zibby Owens

2025 Memoir Magazine Memoir Prize Winner in the LGBTQ+, Family, Resilience Category

“The book is deeply moving and shows how one woman managed to differentiate herself from her mom, find queer love, and discover her voice. I loved it.”–Katie Couric Media, “14 Best New Books Out This Fall, According to a Bookfluencer”“Readers Will be Inspired.”–Publishers Weekly“Candid… an accessible, encouraging model of how to construct a family with hope and intention. Quietly revelatory and affirming.”–Kirkus Reviews“Bracing, intimate, and immensely personal, Mama is also a quintessential story of our American generation: the story of growing up in the throes of Mass Incarceration. Now, as a mother and author, Nikkya shares that story with the same courage with which she faced so many challenges before. Anyone interested in forging a better American future should read this book.” –Max Kenner, founder and executive director, Bard Prison Initiative“A powerful and moving testament to love and redemption.” –Phuc Tran, author of Sigh, Gone: A Misfit’s Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In“Mama is an evocative, unflinching, and ultimately triumphant tale of the burdens and bounty of familial love. Both brilliant and brave, Hargrove opens her heart on every page of this notable debut, and the result is transcendent.”–Mat Johnson, author of Invisible Things and Pym“Mama is unforgettable: a compassionate, wise, observant, full-hearted, and beautifully crafted memoir of queer love and family that is destined to be beloved by many readers and will leave you cheering. Hargrove offers a deep and stirring view of the impacts of addiction and the criminal justice system on Black women, offering an account of hope, heartbreak, faith, courage, joy, and the comfort and care of extended and chosen families.” –Sonya Huber, author of Voice First: A Writer’s Manifesto and Pain Woman Takes Your Keys