Big Girl

"There are three books on earth that I would give anything to be able to write and reread until the suns burns us up. Big Girl is one of those books. The sound, the expansiveness of the whispers, the critical, brilliant, sometimes bruising, beautiful Black girlness explored in this novel is literally second to none... I know I have just read and reread a new American classic that we as a culture and country desperately need. Believe that."-Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy: An American Memoir"Mecca Jamilah Sullivan gives voice to girls and women with unruly bodies who dare to take up space in a world that shames them for being hungry for more. Alive with delicious prose and the cacophony of '90s Harlem, Big Girl gifts us a heroine carrying the weight of worn out ideas who dares to defy the compulsion to shrink, and in turn teaches us to pursue our fullest, most desirous selves without shame. Big Girl is a tender and sumptuous offering of beauty."-Janet Mock, author of Redefining Realness and Surpassing Certainty"Mecca Jamilah Sullivan has given us a gift as big, beautiful and complicated as living itself, filled with everyday people who in her gifted hands, show us the love and struggle of what it means to be inside bodies that don't always fit with the outside world. I found myself cheering for Percy, Nyela, the Harlem streets and of course, for Malaya. Lovely."-Jacqueline Woodson, author of Red at the Bone"What I love most about this book is the depth of each character. I'll never forget Malaya Clondon, but the family that surrounds her is just as complex and memorable. This is a beautiful, profound, and moving novel that I'll be thinking about for a very long time."-Liz Moore, author of Long Bright River and Heft"I ate this up in one greedy, joyous gulp. I fell in love with Maya Clondon from the very first page. This book is hilariously funny and quietly devastating-a compelling narrative about what it means to define ourselves and make space for our bodies as women."-Nicole Dennis-Benn, award winning author of Patsy and Here Comes the Sun"Mecca Jamilah Sullivan's Big Girl is a touching meditation on youth. Malaya, our protagonist, is remarkable as she carries forth growing into herself despite the many obstacles thrown her way. I was immersed in this evocative novel. Even as she poignantly depicts the turmoil in Malaya's life, Sullivan reminds us that there is room to laugh, for the world is made up of beautiful, sometimes inappropriate, often hilarious folks! Malaya's story will stay with you long after the novel is through."-Chinelo Okparanta, author of Under the Udala Trees