Leila Mottley’s The Girls Who Grew Big is a stunning novel that pulses with urgency, tenderness, and raw emotional honesty. Centering the voices of young Black girls growing up in Florida, the book is a powerful exploration of what it means to come of age in a world that often tries to shrink you—and what it takes to grow anyway.

At its heart, this is a story of transformation. The novel begins carrying invisible weight: family trauma, fractured identity, systemic neglect. But through the course of the book, they don’t just grow in the literal sense—they expand emotionally, spiritually, and inwardly. Mottley writes their evolution with care and authenticity, never rushing their journeys or sanitizing their struggles. Their growth is hard-won and deeply human.

What makes this novel especially moving is the strength of its relationships. These girls are not just characters—they are sisters-in-spirit, bound by pain, joy, and shared resistance. Their friendship is the lifeblood of the story: complicated, protective, fierce. Mottley captures the texture of these bonds with incredible nuance—the arguments, the forgiveness, the moments of shared silence that speak louder than words. It’s a reminder that sisterhood can be salvation.

Mottley’s prose is poetic and visceral, full of imagery that sings with both beauty and ache. She doesn’t flinch from the realities these girls face—violence, poverty, being unseen—but she also imbues their story with light, possibility, and grace. There is depth in every line, and a beating heart behind every sentence.

What makes The Girls Who Grew Big so achingly relatable is its emotional core: the yearning to be seen, the hunger to belong, the fight to define oneself beyond what the world expects. Anyone who has ever felt too small or too invisible will find pieces of themselves in these pages. Mottley doesn't just tell us these girls are growing—she shows us how hard and brave it is to choose to grow when the world tells you not to.

Rating: 5/5
A breathtaking, soul-deep novel about girlhood, resilience, and radical becoming. The Girls Who Grew Big will break your heart and put it back together—wider, stronger, and more open than before.

This was a powerful and heartfelt novel about teen motherhood, identity, and the bonds of sisterhood.  When 16 year old Adela Woods is sent away from her home in Indiana to live with her grandmother in a small Florida town, she feels lost and alone.  But everything changes when she meets Emory, a teen mom who brings her baby to high school, and Simone, a young mother of twins who's unexpectedly pregnant again.  Together with a group of girls raising their kids out of the back of Simone's red truck, Adela discovers a found family and a fierce sense of belonging.
This author writes such emotionally charged stories with such care and kindness for her characters.  These girls are deeply flawed but incredibly strong. Their experiences are raw and real - I found myself completely immersed in their world.  Each of their stories is unique, yet they're all woven together through friendship, hardship, and love.  
This book doesn't shy away from the harsh realities young mothers face, byt it tells their stories in a beautiful, compassionate way.  It's also a celebration of sisterhood - the kids that carry you when everything else falls apart.  
This is a touching, hopeful read that reminds us how powerful connection and community can be.

The Girls Who Grew Big is about teenage pregnancy and motherhood. It is told through 3 POVs, Adela, Simone, and Emory. Adela is a student athlete, who is brought down to the Florida panhandle to live with her grandmother while she waits for the baby to be born. Emory is a senior in high school who is straddling being a new mother and finding her own happiness. Simone was a teenage mother of twins, who is the unspoken leader of The Girls, a group of teenage mothers in the small town of Padua. Adela, Simone and Emory all go through their own journey of motherhood and making hard decisions that impact their own happiness, child (unborn or born), and those around them.

Leila Mottley did an excellent job with this amazing story. I fell in love with each character and wanted to support each of them in their own way. I wanted Adela to grow up faster than she was because I was angry with her choices. I wanted Emory to pursue her dreams, and wanted to tell everyone around her to just let her go. And Simone. Simone just wanted the very best for her kids and wanted to feel love. This is definitely a heavy hitter and delivers emotional blows at times. I highly recommend this beautiful book and grateful that I was able to experience it. 5 out of 5.

Thank you Netgalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Knopf for the opportunity in exchange for an honest review.


I will be posting to socials.

The Girls Who Grew Big is told through the POV of 3 young women who are brought together through their pregnancies and motherhood. Simone is the unofficial leader, who imparts her wisdom onto younger mothers. Emory is a senior in high school intent on graduating who brings her infant to classes. Adela is pregnant and sent to Florida by her parents to essentially birth the baby and then return to school as if nothing has happened.

This story is beautifully written - I could immediately tell that this author is a POET. Beautiful imagery and prose. Furthermore, the subject matter definitely hits home for a lot of women - no matter if you are mothers, pregnant or neither. All of us can relate to these characters in some way.

This book is releasing at the end of June - a great book to take with you to the beach, dig your toes into the sand and feel as if you are right there in Padua Beach with the Girls, Simone’s pick-up truck right behind you.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the surprise relationships. I liked how the author told the story of the ups and downs of the girls as they became family.

Hands down one of my favorite reads of 2025! This book was so beautifully written and had me rooting for each character. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

3.75 stars. This was a powerful and emotional read that touches on the challenges of teenage motherhood, societal expectations versus personal agency, trauma, race, and the importance of community. Leila’s writing was really beautiful, and I’m excited to check out her debut novel, Nightcrawling!

At times, I found some of the characters’ choices and inner thoughts frustrating—but I had to remind myself that these were teenagers navigating life for the first time, faced with the difficult decisions that come with motherhood. As someone in my mid-twenties without children, I didn’t fully connect with the characters or the story on a personal level, but I still appreciated its depth and the important themes it explored. I believe many readers will find it both moving and impactful.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Get ready for an emotional journey of young pregnant mothers growing up in the Florida Panhandle.
Whether they live there, or sent by a relative. These woman form emotional bonds and connection that are both raw and troublesome.
Thank you NG for the ARC.

This was a really interesting book--i selected based on the cover but was extremely invested in the story. Thanks so much for the gifted copy of this one!

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of The Girls Who Grew Big by @leilamottley A pregnant teenager is sent to Florida to live with her grandmother until she gives birth and gives up her baby for adoption. I liked the strong female friendships and female empowerment. But the girls are young and they make some bad decisions, which I wasn’t a fan of. Thanks to @booktalketc for the recommendation! #thegirlswhogrewbig #leilamottley #bookstagram #netgalley #advancedreadercopy #lovetoread📚 #takeapagefrommybook

A fierce, tender portrait of girlhood and motherhood colliding.

Leila Mottley’s writing is lyrical and grounded, and her characters, especially the Girls, are unforgettable. Their story isn’t sugar-coated, but it’s full of humanity, connection, and truth. I appreciated how the novel explores consequence without judgment and centers the kind of found family that makes survival possible.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

The Girls Who Grew Big is a poignant and inspiring story of resilience, growth, and the fierce determination of children navigating the responsibility of raising their own siblings. While a few plot points didn’t fully resonate with me personally, I can still appreciate the author’s bold artistic choices. The prose reads like a painting rendered in words rich, expressive, and emotionally layered. This is a story that lingers with you, both for its subject matter and its unique voice.

I loved Leila Mottley’s debut and couldn’t imagine a follow-up to Nightcrawling. The Girls Who Grew Big took me by storm and left me with big feelings. Namely, what it felt like to be a girl, a young woman, always fearing the worst knowing you were being watched. The characters and the emotions channeled through them are raw, visceral, and startling. Mottley holds no punches in the best, most honest way. I loved this book.

This was an incredible reading experience. Adela moving to Florida because she got pregnant while still in high school, meeting Emory who was her first friend when she arrived there. Then meeting Simone who was a little older and kind of the leader of all the girls who were teen moms. This was not what I expected, but I couldn’t stop turning the pages. I needed to find out how this group came together and supported each other. What would happen next to each of the girls.

This was a really good read!

I want to thank NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Ancho for this advanced reader copy. This is my honest opinion of this book.

A tender, heartbreaking exploration of girlhood, motherhood, and the weight of inherited struggle, This novel shines in its emotional depth but stumbles with dense prose and frustrating character choices. The story of three young women trying to break free is powerful, even if their decisions often defy reason. Beautiful, messy, and at times exasperating.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC which I received in exchange for my honest review.

“I didn’t have a purpose till they showed up and, a lot of the time, I think they saved my life.”

If Leila Mottley is going to leave you feeling a way…it’s going to be in shambles. This book snatched my heart out of my chest and stomped on it.
Her writing style is so poetically devastating… it always feels like you are listening to a very long, but sad poem. The topics are gut wrenching but raw. The authenticity bleeds through the pages so effortlessly.

This book is a triple POV which continuously throws you from the 3 perspectives. One of the FMCs quickly became my favorite. She felt like someone I knew. The entire book feels close to home.
A layered story of young motherhood, chosen sisterhood, finding yourself and the rollercoaster that comes with it.
You may need an emotional break or two while reading. But, it is worth the read. Please check your TWs first!

Masterful storytelling. No notes.

I really liked this. It felt realistic and each character’s voice was unique. 4/5 will recommend to friends

gorgeous and interesting read. the plotting is wonderful and the book is quite poignant. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Some of us are fortunate enough to have obtained guidance, and love, and respect in our walk through life. Our cuts mended, bruises kissed, and paths straightened. Then there are those of us who fight to find our own way; shunned for making mistakes, scolded for trying to right our wrongs, and judged for seeking help to live a life that reflects the tiniest hint happiness. The Girls Who Grew Big was a phenomenal read! It checked every preconceived, and "judgy," perspective of teen pregnancy as a societal plague, and showed the reader that young moms can still have it all. A strong message of hope, opportunity, companionship, and just down right being a good mom was infused in every page. I was obsessed with the vantage point of each character's perspective, and I often found myself back in the early days of my own motherhood experiences. This read helped to refresh my profound appreciation for trying mothers, for young woman trying to figure it all out, and for the dads that want to help but are kept at a poles distance always wanting for something more.

Leila have outdone herself, and I will definitely be recommending this read to everyone!

THE GIRLS WHO GREW BIG
By Leila Mottley

This is a raw and emotional read portraying teenage motherhood in a small town on the Florida panhandle. Centered around three young women navigating the complexities of raising children while they are basically children themselves. Young girls making decisions they shouldn’t have to be making at their age. You see the struggles and hardships they face, but also the sisterhood, bonds, and hopes they share. Each of these young mothers share their perspectives, thus making their experiences raw and authentic. A character driven story that does not shy away from the heart-wrenching hardships, but also shows the hopes along the way. The choices these girls and young men make are extremely frustrating and you feel for them and their children. Also frustrating is that they don’t have the parental guidance or understanding, especially from society, that they so desperately need. I didn’t relate to these girls and the circumstances of their day-to-day living, but I did care about them and their children. I felt I wanted to lecture them and also hug them. Will they mature and find their path and their way to happiness? You will be rooting for each of these young women as you read their story by this young author who skillfully writes an emotional, powerful, and painful read portraying them. Leila Mottley’s writing is vivid, poetic, lyrical, raw and authentic, and reflects on both trauma and beauty in her language. She writes with such depth and skill beyond her young age — there is no doubt she will have a remarkable future ahead. I am going to go back and read her debut, Nightcrawling; I started this and because it is about marginalized lives in Oakland, it was a difficult read. Her debut was written at 17-years-old and published at 19-years-old.


Touching upon young mothers, young fathers, family, choices, self-esteem, relationships, hardships, compassion, and hope.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor | Knopf for the ARC ebook