The Girls Who Grew Big

The Girls Who Grew Big ~ Leila Mottley

The Girls Who Grew Big begins with Simone giving birth to twins in the back of her boyfriend’s truck, cutting the umbilical cords with her teeth when his only offering is a nasty dirty pocket knife. It ends with Adela giving birth on the beach surrounded by her friends.

In between, we get to know Simone, Adela, and Emory, three teenage moms living in the Florida panhandle that society has all but given up on. Simone is the oldest of the group, and is sort of a big sister to the others. She has the wisdom of having gone through this before, but the inexperience of being very young herself. Emory is a new mother determined to finish high school, who refuses to go to the special school for unwed moms. She wants to go to Stanford or another top school, and isn’t about to let the judgement of others get in her way. Adela is newly pregnant, and has been banished from her promising swimming career and sent to live with her grandmother.

These girls have dreams, and are not interested in being banished or ignored by society at large. They are smart, determined, and capable. They are also foolish, young, and inexperienced.

This book was harrowing. If reading about a girl giving birth in the back of a truck is going to be too much for you, maybe don’t read it, because there is more and worse. But wow, was it good. It was such a strong story about found family, community, and combating the specific isolation of early motherhood. These girls are not the failures that their families and society feels them to be. They are loving, caring parents who want what is best for their kids, while still wanting what is best for themselves. I loved that Mottley showed that teen motherhood isn’t just one thing, that the girls came from different backgrounds and had different ideas and desires, and approached motherhood in different ways.

I read The Girls Who Grew Big as part of my county library’s annual ‘Read Contra Costa’ event, where the library encourages readers to share their experience with the same book. I’m so glad that I had a break in my holds list with nothing to read, because this one had slipped under my radar, and I was incredibly moved by it. Highly recommended.