The Girls Who Grew Big

by Leila Mottley

From the author of Oprah's Book Club pick and New York Times best seller Nightcrawling, here is an astonishing new novel about the joys and entanglements of a fierce group of teenage mothers in a small town on the Florida panhandle.

Adela Woods is sixteen years old and pregnant. Her parents banish her from her comfortable upbringing in Indiana to her grandmother’s home in the small town of Padua Beach, Florida. When she arrives, Adela meets Emory, who brings her newborn to high school, determined to graduate despite the odds; Simone, mother of four-year-old twins, weighs her options when she finds herself pregnant again; and the rest of the Girls, a group of outcast young moms who raise their growing brood in the back of Simone’s red truck.

The town thinks the Girls have lost their way, but really they are finding it: looking for love, making and breaking friendships, and navigating the miracle of motherhood and the paradox of girlhood.

Full of heart and life and hope, set against the shifting sands of these friends’ secrets and betrayals, The Girls Who Grew Big confirms Leila Mottley’s promise and offers an explosive new perspective on what it means to be a young woman.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Audiobook, Contemporary, Coming Of Age, Book Club, Feminism

352 pages, Hardcover

First published June 24, 2025

About the author

Leila Mottley is the author of the novel NIGHTCRAWLING, an Oprah’s Book Club pick and New York Times best seller. NIGHTCRAWLING was longlisted for the Booker Prize, the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel, and the Hurston/Wright Legacy award. Mottley was the 2018 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate and published her debut poetry collection WOKE UP NO LIGHT in 2024. Mottley’s writing has also been published in The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Marie Claire, and more. Her sophomore novel, THE GIRLS WHO GREW BIG, is forthcoming in June 2025.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

waiting 3 years for a follow-up after an excellent debut is cruel and unusual.

like that time, this can be a frustrating read — because it's challenging. it challenges so many preconceived notions and stereotypes, so many of the ways we, as readers and as people, judge. its characters are complicated and fallible. its writing is authentic and vocal. its story moves in fits and starts.

but all of that builds intentionally. the moments i felt tense while reading this were opportunities for me to step back and consider why i felt that way, which only made me enjoy the book more.

i wish we got to know more of the girls, the group of young moms at the center of this story, rather than just a few of them. but that's only because i so appreciated how the three we saw were rendered on page.

bottom line: worth the wait!

(thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)

[Kail Lowry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one tugged on my heartstrings as a teen mom myself. What a powerful story. If you have the time, read/listen to this one!

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Girls Who Grew Big written by Leila Mottley is the true embodiment of girlhood❤💅. I read this book earlier in the year and I'm just now getting my thoughts together four months later because this book was so heart breaking, every time I thought of this story or try to form my thoughts, I would just stare at the ceiling and sob. The Girls Who Grew Big is more than just a heart breaking story, it's about motherhood, girlhood, womanhood, and human hood, betrayal, and lies. This book was so raw, gut wrenching, powerful, inspiring, heart breaking, pure, and real. This book teaches you and offers you a perspective what it's like to be a young woman and a very young mother. This book and author shattered my heart, but certain parts and characters made my annoyance rise to a new level I have never experienced before. I know I'm just twenty-three years old, but this book made me yearn for my future of motherhood whenever that may be. The Girls Who Grew Big is an astonishing new novel full of hope, heart, and life about the joys and entanglements of a fierce group of young teenage mothers. I absolutely love and adore the womanhood movement, I love watching young girls and young women lift each other up, and support one another during difficult times. I can't recommend this book enough, if you are looking for a book that will make you sob and tug on your heart strings, then look no further than The Girls Who Grew Big and mark your calendars for June 24th, 2025 because you won't want to miss out on Leila Mottely's beautiful story telling.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND KNOPF, PANTHEON, VINTAGE, AND ANCHOR FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!!

"💔😭If you don't believe in miracles, how are you supposed to believe your ma loves you from a far off place you don't know nothin' about💔😭?"

"💝Don't we all deserve to have a second chance at choosing the thing that will choose us back💝?"

"🐍Sometimes happiness feels like a snake in the grass🐍".

Simone Turner first became a young mother at just sixteen years old with her "boyfriend" Tooth who was twenty-two years old at the time. At thirty-six weeks, Simone gave birth to twins, her daughter Luck and her son Lion. Tooth was absolutely disgusting, I hated him so much, when Simone gave birth to his own children, he looked at Simone's placenta like with was something dirty and contagious. I'm sorry, but there's a special place in hell for people like him. How could you look at the mother of your children's placenta like that? I just wanted to reach into my kindle and give Simone the biggest hug after that situation, like girl, I'm sorry to say this but you're better off without him. After getting pregnant at just sixteen years old, Simone was expelled from the only family she had ever known, she was kicked to the curb like a piece of trash, her own family wanted absolutely nothing to do with her, so they then kicked her out of the house. I know getting pregnant at such a young age can come as a shock to most parents, and I know there's consequences and repercussions, but I don't think a young teenage mother should be kicked out of her house with no direction of where her life will take her. At twenty almost twenty-one years old, Simone is now a mother to four year old twins, Luck and Lion, Simone is pregnant with her third child and wants to have an abortion because she feels like she can't give her new baby the life it deserves. And of course, she's still with her "boyfriend" Tooth who is now twenty-seven years old.

Adela Woods just became a young mother for the very first time at just sixteen years old. Adela gave birth to her baby girl on the beach because she has a special connection to the ocean. Adela is a competitive swimmer and wants to be in the Olympics, but her pregnancy put all of her dreams on hold. Adela lives in a shack with her grandma- Noni that welcomed her with open arms because her mom and dad decided to move Adela out of Indiana when they found out she was pregnant. I'm so happy Adela had her grandma through her pregnancy journey because Noni was so sweet, gentle, and patient with Adela. At sixteen years old, Adela is a new mama and about to begin her junior year of high school. I can't even imagine leaving my parents behind in my home state and moving to a new state to live with my grandma because of a positive pregnancy test. Adela is whittled to the smallest imperfections. The only thing I hated about Adela was that she was a manipulative liar, she would use people, but Adela never thought about the repercussions nor the consequences for lying and hurting those closest to her. In my honest opinion, I feel like the truth goes a long way, just be honest from the very beginning, yes, you might lose people, but it's better than gaining your closest friends and then y'all form a bond and then you lie to them for the longest of times and in the end they will leave, I feel like that's more hurtful than losing people in the beginning because being a manipulative liar comes with consequences.

Emory Reid became a young mother at just seventeen years old and gave birth to her baby boy, Kai. Despite getting pregnant at such a young age, Emory doesn't drop out of high school because she has dreams of earning her credits and attending Stanford University. Emory revealed she got pregnant with Kai on purpose because she stopped taking her birth control without thinking about the consequences and repercussions her careless actions would cost her. Emory's Grammy and Pawpaw wanted nothing to do with her while she was pregnant, so her Pawpaw kicked Emory out of his house, but secretly her Grammy wanted to help her during these difficult times. Emory returns to school with her newborn baby, but teachers and students are complaining because Kai is causing too many distractions. I'm sorry but a new born baby does cry and does need to be fed at certain times throughout the day, so mind your own business and let this poor girl feed her baby, damn. I know grandparents and parents don't want to see their children suffer, and I know getting pregnant at such a young age because of careless actions comes with consequences, but I feel like there's no reason to kick your child out of the house when all they need is your love and advice. I wanted to knock some common sense into Emory, but it was so hard not to root for her as she took on motherhood alone.

The Girls live out of the back of Simone's red pickup truck in Padua Beach, Florida, which is the forgotten Panhandle of Florida that was better off remaining forgotten because it's just a poor beach town. The town and people of Padua Beach think The Girls have lost their way, but really they are just finding their own ways, they are looking for love, making and breaking friendships, and navigating the miracle of motherhood and the paradox of girlhood. The Girls is just a group of outcast young moms who raise their growing group of babies in the back of Simone's red pickup truck. People in Padua Beach snicker at the way The Girls live, the way they talk, and the way they eat. Despite only being just twenty years old, Simone is like a mother figure to the rest of The Girls because they are all much younger than Simone is, but the only thing I had an issue with is the way Simone lost her temper with them, she would often let her anger get the best of her. The Girls felt like sisters to one another because of their connections to getting pregnant at such young ages. Despite them feeling like sisters, The Girls had a deeper connection to another girl in the group. The secrets between these young mothers had me holding my breath so many times. I know this group of young mothers have a lot of learning and growing up to do, but it's hard not to root for them and cheer them on as they navigate motherhood. It truly was beautiful watching their friendships blossom despite some of the secrets they kept from one another, but that's guaranteed to happen when you are a very young mom with no direction in your life. Yes, there will be consequences and repercussions along the way, but it's always best to be honest from the very beginning.

[Shawnaci Schroeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5
- Omg I need everyone to read this book asap!!! It was soooo good!! The prose was beautiful and I wanted to annotate everything. I fell in love with all of the characters. It truly felt like they were real.
- Felt so many emotions during this story and was almost in tears by the end!! So real and raw.
- This author has now become an auto buy author for me because she knows how to rip your heart out and put it back together again!

[Bonnie G. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I rarely look at reviews before I read a book. I read reviews to put things on my TBR, but I am old and I have always had a lot on my mind, so I never remember anything about reviews by the time I get to reading a book. In a move not at all characteristic of me, I went and looked at the NYT review when I was about halfway through this book. I felt like I was reading an entirely different book than the reviewer. That is one of the things that kept me reading -- the thought that I might find the nuanced, sensitive characterization the reviewer found. Another thing that kept me reading is that I wanted to love this book. Focusing on the real lives of poor young mothers, on the full-time work it is to survive in this country (and it is about to get a lot harder), while trying to parent well is something I wish more writers would do. But not like this.

I kept thinking of Hello Beautiful as I read this. The subject matter is quite different, but I disliked this for a lot of the same reasons I disliked that book. The characters are poorly drawn, intended to be avatars of a type, intended to make a point rather than be a person. The three main characters in this book are empty. Simone is the housemother. She gets knocked up and thrown out of her house at 15 and yet she knows everything, from how to improve a nursing relationship, to getting kids access to food and medical care, to a detailed understanding of the geological phenomena that led to the white sand beaches of Florida's gulf coast, to aviation history. All this while living in a truck with her twins. And yet she is crude and down-home when she needs to be. She throws around "coochie" and "titties" with a frequency generally limited to use of words like "the" and she gets into catfights in public spaces with a girl who gets with her man, Also, none of those behaviors/knowledge banks makes sense for this church girl raised in a trailer with a 9th grade education from schools in a poor area of rural Florida in a town that does not even appear on the map. She was like a mashup of Jeopardy, MTV Teen Moms, and Real Housewives of Atlanta, teenage edition. Emory is the "white trash" representative who, despite having been abandoned by her own mother to her racist, uneducated grandparents and raising a baby with no resources, is valedictorian and gets into Stanford on a full scholarship. Please. Also problematic is that Mottley raises issues of race with Emory, but never explores them other than to have the grandfather rant. The third main character, Adela, is the least well-drawn. She is the child of a man who has run far from his rural Florida roots, now a corporate lawyer in Indiana, married to a White woman. Adela went to private school, where she was the only Black student. She was a competitive swimmer, apparently Olympic caliber. She got pregnant in a pathetic one-night stand, which was also the first time she had sex. Her parents sent her to live with her paternal grandmother, thinking they will cover things up, but all her classmates know, and she is shunned. Feeling alone and in an unfamiliar place, she hooks up with a poor, smelly surfer dude and vies to be part of this ragtag band of teen mothers all living precarious existences, but all great mothers, of course.

I thought the book was poorly written. In addition to the paper doll characters, the dialogue is often obviously intended to tell the reader what the author wants them to know. There are conversations between siblings who know all the same things, but the reader doesn't know them so they tell each other in expository dialogue what their house looked like, what their mother is like, and what their sleeping arrangements were. (This is mostly between Simone and her brother Jay.) There are also a lot of very very very strained metaphors. And the extended metaphor of Emory's obsession with dead orcas (which surprisingly turns out to be not entirely a metaphor) nearly drove me to drink.

Look, people like the book. This was also true of Hello Beautiful, which I cited here. I very much did not. I thought it was dumbed down, obvious, and inelegant. It was also misleading. In the midst of all the good liberal messaging, especially about the myth of reproductive freedom and the staggeringly different impacts of early parenthood on females versus males, there was this whole woowoo "motherhood is the only thing that really matters and it makes you an adult" crap. It was also hinted that early motherhood does not hinder a woman or limit opportunity, when it is the single most significant indicator of endemic poverty, lack of access to education and healthcare (for the mother and offspring), and likelihood of documented injury through domestic abuse. Simone lives in a truck with her twins and never loses her temper or fails significantly as a parent. I raised one kid in a 4-bedroom house with a playroom and backyard I could send my kid to if I needed space, and did not have the stress of uncertain access to food, shelter, healthcare, and education (which would have made me more reactive), and I lost my temper and made mistakes with some frequency. That is not a nuanced portrayal of economically precarious teen motherhood or of either motherhood or teenagers generally. It is very well-intentioned, though, so that is something.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Loved this story… about the Girls..
a group of young pregnant teens in the coastal town of Padua Beach, Florida.
The story focuses mostly on three of them..

Simone, a Black girl who’s mother made her leave home when she got pregnant..her religious ways making her think badly of her… delivers a set of twins and lives in the back of her boyfriend’s beater truck on the beach where she delivered her babies..and the Girls all gather there with her.. with their own babies sleeping there too..

Emory.. a White girl, in high school ..very smart, probable scholarships coming her way.. has a new baby boy with Simone’s brother.. lives with her grandparents who have somewhat shunned her and won’t let the Black father of her baby come around..

Adela….Biracial, high school student and hopeful Olympian in swimming who
Is sent to her Grandmother’s in Florida, by her wealthy parents to wait out the pregnancy and give up her baby then return home…

Such a beautiful bond these girls have.. a safety net for each other, as they endure all the problems they have to deal with..they find a family together and help each other.


Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the Arc!

Available now!

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moving novel about a group of young, predominantly Black teenager mothers living in the small town of Padua Beach, Florida. I will say that for the 250 pages or so of this book I felt a bit bored by Mottley’s prose. I knew from the start the story was important but the pieces didn’t all come together for me until the last 150 pages or so, which really blew me away.

I loved the theme of female friendship and empowerment in The Girls Who Grew Big. Mottley does an excellent job of portraying the complexity of friendship; you don’t just spend time with these people, you actually have to treat them well, and even then there are relational complexities to unpack. It was heartwarming to read how the girls supported one another when so many people, ranging from their parents to male partners, let them down.

I also appreciated how each of the characters developed throughout the course of the novel. For example, Mottley did a great job of making Adela so annoying, though also tenderly highlighting her honest and messy path in growing as a person. Adela, Simone, and Emory all had distinct voices and by the end of the book I felt attached to all three of them and was wishing them the best. Overall, a character-driven novel that subtly tackles the stereotypes and prejudices thrown at teen mothers. I think Mottley is still honing her craft as a writer though in the last 150 pages or so there were some passages that blew me away.

[Maren’s Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5-5⭐️ A group of young, outcast girls, all of whom are new mothers, will come of age over the course of several years as they step into adulthood and motherhood— together.

Let me begin by saying that the character development and storytelling in this book are unmatched. By the time I reached the end, I felt I knew all of these characters in a visceral way. As a result, The Girls Who Grew Big will leave you feeling the gamut of emotions.

For a good bit of this story, I felt complete heartbreak for these characters, the system designed for struggle, and the mistakes they made along the way that left them all but isolated and alone. But that strong emotion is beautifully counteracted by the vast amount of hope the author injects into her writing. As sad as you may feel for these girls, many whose families have disowned them, this is ultimately a story of hope.

From the sense of community created by Simone, to the strong friendships these girls develop, there is such a profound sense of hope for their future. And as they step into motherhood, beyond the birth of their babies, these characters, flaws and mistakes aside, grow into the women and mothers they were all along, with the help of their community. In the end, they created the family they were missing all along. They often say it takes a village to raise a child, and Mottley proves just this with her exquisite story of female friendship, perseverance, and an ode to young womanhood.

🎧 While I went back and forth between reading this with my eyes and with my ears, I ultimately preferred an immersive read combining the two. Narrated by a full cast, all of whom were exceptional, the audio helped elicit such strong emotions. However, due to the larger cast of characters, particularly the three main characters, Simone, Adela, and Emory, I needed the physical book to help me follow along, and prevent any confusion as to whose point of view we were in. But honestly, you really cannot go wrong in whatever format you choose.

Read if you like:
▪️coming of age
▪️power of female friendship
▪️character-driven stories
▪️emotional reads
▪️complexities of motherhood


Check out my Bookstagram post here ♥

Thank you Knopf and PRH Audio for the advanced copies.

[Flo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teenage motherhood can sometimes feel like the end of a mother's dreams. This book attempts to tell a story in which three teenage mothers continue to make choices - different choices. At times, it does feel forced or didactic, so be prepared for some ups and downs. But Leila Mottley continues to make interesting choices herself, and that’s the best thing an artist can do.

[BookOfCinz Reading Retreat Host · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fresh, timely, bold, jarring and full of heart….

I have read so many books and this may be the second book I have ever read that is told from the point of view of pregnant and teen moms- what a necessary read! The Girls Who Grew Big is set in the small town of Padua Beach, Florida and is told from the point of view of three teen girls. We meet:

Adela, she’s got a huge future ahead of her as an Olympic swimmer. She grew up in a mostly white town and when she finally catches the eye of one of the most popular guy in school, she ends up pregnant and is sent away to live in Padua with her grandmother until she gives birth and gives the child up for adoption, at least, that is the plan.

Emory is brilliant and decides she will be attending university, not in Florida. How will she make this happen when she’s got a newborn that her grandparents refuse to help with. Emory knows the goal is to graduate and get into university but there are so many obstacles.

Simone is the mother of four year old twins and is currently pregnant with her third child. Even she is wondering “how did this happen?” because she is smart and she knows a third child means she will never leave Padua. Added to that, she is basically the leader and home for the outcast of young mothers in this small town. How can she take care of them and her children?

We are taken in the world of these three teen moms as they bare themselves. You feel deeply and want them to win so badly. The author did a brilliant job of creating whole characters that at no time did you feel sorry for them because these girls where bright, lively, nuanced and brave. I think that is what I loved most about this book, it is not often you reach about outcast teen moms who are fiercely fighting for their future and the future of their children.

I did think the book dragged a little in the end, but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Ceecee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+
Padua Beach, Florida is definitely not on the tourist trail as it’s a forgotten wasteland. Here is where we meet the girls who grew big – Adela, Emory and Simone. Teenage mothers who the town believes to have well and truly lost their way and they judge them accordingly. However, although they do sometimes lose their way, they are far from lost as they navigate the challenges of motherhood and the pitfalls and problems that life throws at them. Adela arrives in Padua Beach to live with her grandmother as her parents cannot handle her pregnancy, Simone, who already has twins, Luck and Lion, is pregnant again and clever Emory wants to combine motherhood with continuing her education. Each one tells their stories as they interact and Leila Mottley gives them their own unique voice.

Leila Mottley is quite the talent. She writes with meaning and feeling, it’s powerful, often raw and painful, frequently heartbreaking and it has an authentic tone throughout the storytelling. Her novels are different, they’re creative, they shine a spotlight on certain groups to challenge thinking, just as she does in her first novel, ‘Nightcrawling’. The characterisation is exemplary with the individual personalities and circumstances they’re in being easy to see. All of them are resourceful and courageous, they’re resilient because they have no other option. They obviously have many worries, especially concerning their children but they have each other. There’s a strong bond, they’re united by their pregnancies, by motherhood by hardship and the need to survive throughout all the difficulties, some of which they have with each other, but they figure it out and find their way. In the face of the obstacles, the ultimate mood is optimistic. All three are a lesson in not judging a book by its cover.

The setting of Nowheresville, Florida is inspired and well chosen. Living in this part of the USA (eg. alligators, hurricanes ) presents yet more challenges, these are yet more obstacles to overcome and it further demonstrate their mettle.

Overall, this novel is hard hitting but written with warmth and empathy towards the characters, reinforcing the idea of resisting the rush to judgement and to stereotype. It’s beautifully written and I find myself rooting for each of them because the author makes me care.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin General UK for the much appreciated EPub in return for an honest review.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

…..this was a very different story. Very character driven…. There isn’t really a PLOT per se. It’s just you and this group of teenage mothers. It’s giving TEEN MOM .. the book version. You fall in love with these young girls as if they were your little sister. You cuss at them for all the stupid mistakes.. and then want to hug them all the same from understanding.

I’m not sure exactly what I feel. Like am I sad? I’m not sure lmao.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a full spoiler version of this review, please check out my blog, spoiledbooks.blogspot.com

2 stars

The Girls Who Grew Big follows a group of teen moms living in a small Florida beach town who form their own messy little found family after being abandoned or judged by basically every adult around them.

I’ll give this book credit: I was never bored. Leila Mottley absolutely knows how to keep the pages turning, and I stayed invested the entire time even though “literary fiction about teen pregnancy” isn’t normally my thing.

That said… the longer I read, the less believable it all became. The adults felt cartoonishly awful, the teens talked like tiny philosophers, and some plot points had me thinking “there is simply no way.”

Still readable. Just not emotionally convincing for me.

[Lindsay L]

DNF @ 35%

Started off strong and then fizzled out. I can’t keep characters straight. Might try again later.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.50 stars.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Leila Mottley is only 23 years old.

When I was 23, I was barely finishing college and had no idea what direction I wanted to take with my Film degree. Meanwhile, at this pace, Mottley will be an award-winning, multi-faceted writer well before she turns 30. She was the youngest nominee for the prestigious Booker Prize for Nightcrawling, which was selected for Oprah’s Book Club in 2022. Protect her at all costs.

Her latest novel, The Girls Who Grew Big, explores teen pregnancy in the Florida Panhandle. The story unfolds from three perspectives:

Simone: who has four-year-old twins named Luck and Lion.
Emory: who brings her baby to school who has dreams of going to college
Adela: a former swimming prodigy, is pregnant and living with her grandmother after being shunned from her parents' home.

What makes this book so powerful is that each girl has a distinct story to tell. Every moment of their lives is crucial. They constantly worry about where their next meal will come from, how they will house their children on any given night, and where they will sleep. Much of their time is spent in the back of Simone’s truck, which almost feels like a character itself.

Although the overarching themes of teen pregnancy and survival are heavy, the characters are strong, resilient, and determined to be good mothers. I was on edge during a hurricane, uncertain of how they would make it through. The scene presents a thrilling take on abortion, woven into a game of truth or dare.

At their core, they are still children trying to navigate the world. Some have been abused, others have parents who never loved them, but Mottley’s writing never leaves us feeling hopeless. Her lyrical and optimistic storytelling shines through.

I loved Nightcrawling, despite its harrowing story about the Oakland Police Department’s cover-up involving young girls forced into prostitution. Mottley, an Oakland native, wrote that novel with deep knowledge of the Bay Area (woo hoo!). This time, she takes us to a part of the country I know little about, offering a fresh perspective on basic human necessities.

The writing in The Girls Who Grew Big is unique, urgent, and important. There is so much innocence in being a teen mother. Their survival depends on the guidance of others—whether it’s Planned Parenthood or teachers—but instead, they lean on each other, and the results are both heartbreaking and beautiful.

Please don’t miss this important book when it’s released on June 24! Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

[Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are books that ask for empathy. Then there are books that demand it. The Girls Who Grew Big doesn’t care if you feel comfortable. It’s not here to present neat narratives about redemption or resilience. This novel is sweaty, swollen, sleepless. It’s sisterhood born of hardship. It’s the ache of being too young to parent and too old to be anyone’s child. It’s girlhood peeled back to the nerve.

Simone, Emory, and Adela aren’t cautionary tales. They’re not metaphors. They’re real, raw, breath-stealing portraits of what it means to mother while still being a child yourself. Or in Simone’s case, to keep mothering even after you’ve aged out of sympathy. Simone is nearly twenty-one, raising her young twins in the back of a truck, pregnant again, and somehow still the gravitational center of this entire story. She’s not a tragic figure. She’s a force. She’s a blueprint for survival without safety nets.

Emory is all sharp edges and stubborn hope. A valedictorian with a baby on her hip, she breastfeeds during class, refuses to be quiet, and wants more. For herself, for her child, for all the girls like her who were written off before they had a chance to speak. And Adela? Adela’s the new girl, the outsider, sent to Padua Beach like a problem to be solved. A one-time Olympic hopeful, now just another swollen belly in a town that doesn’t ask questions, only passes judgment.

There’s no romanticism here. No soft-focus lighting on the so-called miracle of motherhood. These girls are exhausted. They’re hurt. They lash out, fall apart, abandon each other, come crawling back. They make bad choices and worse ones. They lie, they flinch, they betray. They try again. The brilliance of this book is that it lets them be messy. Not as a flaw, but as a birthright.

Leila Mottley writes like she’s breaking something open. Her language is poetic, sure, but there’s nothing delicate about it. These stories are built out of sweat and spit and slammed doors. Padua Beach isn’t just a setting. It’s a crucible. And the red truck Simone lives in isn’t just a backdrop. It’s a battered kind of sanctuary. The only space where these girls get to exist without apology.

The most brutal part? It’s not the mistakes they make. It’s how the world lines up to punish them for trying. Parents abandon them. Schools dismiss them. "Doctors" who refuse them care. The people who should be protecting them are the ones who pushed them to the edge. And yet, they protect each other. With food. With jokes. With help breastfeeding and lullabies hummed under their breath. It’s not perfect. It’s not enough. But it’s what they’ve got.

And somehow, under the wreckage of everything they’ve lost or never had, these girls still dream. That’s what gutted me the most. Simone wondering if she can be more than just a mother. Emory still trying to get into college. Adela still craving something like love, even if she doesn’t trust herself to recognize it. They dare to want more in a world that keeps telling them they don’t deserve even this.

The most heartbreaking thing they can do is let go of their dreams. And watching their dreams evolve, into something bruised, still beating, but utterly their own, feels like hearing a heartbeat through the noise.

For the ones who made homes out of truck beds and lullabies out of broken promises. For the girls who weren’t handed a future or were promised one only to see it ripped away, and decided to make one anyway. For every time they chose each other or themselves in a world that chose to forget them. 4.5 stars.

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for the advance review copy in exchange for an honest review. Stories like this don’t just deserve to be read. They demand to be heard.

[Bryn Greenwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I deeply enjoyed this book and its characters. I leave it concerned for the reviews I saw accusing it of “glorifying teen pregnancy.” Perhaps those readers think we should only share stories of teen mothers suffering and being punished. There’s no shortage of misery in this book, but there’s so much joy too.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t know what to expect from The Girls Who Grew Big, but as a fan of Leila Mottley’s Nightcrawling I couldn’t wait to find out.

Padua Beach on the Florida panhandle is a small, sleepy town where not much happens. It is, however, where Simone, Adela, and Emory meet. The one thing they have in common is unplanned pregnancies in their teens with no support from their families. It’s heartbreaking how these girls were treated. The exception is Adela. She was sent to Padua Beach to live with her grandmother. Not only does she support her, she humbles her as well.

Simone is the leader of this pack because she has twins and making do with her truck and has a strong personality. Emory has a son in tow as she completes her high school diploma with dreams of going to college. Adela is an accomplished swimmer bound for the Olympics when she finds herself pregnant.

These girls grapple with their situations as well as their friendship. Squabbles and ensuing betrayals aside, what they learn is that friendship, like no other relationship, is thicker than water. They are all strong and stick to their convictions despite the challenges they face.

The main characters are easily identifiable and the writing flows. Such a pleasure to read with drama and suspense. Recommended reading! On a side note, I loved the shout out to the University of Washington my alma mater.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an early copy.

[Staci · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Girls Who Grew Big is told through three different perspectives. Simone is the veteran “teen mom”. She has 5 year old twins and is everyone’s rock. She the one everyone else goes to with questions or concerns about their own pregnancy or children. Emory has a baby boy as a result of a pregnancy that she planned. The father of her baby is Simone’s younger brother, Jayden. She is a senior in high school with dreams of college and getting out of Padua Beach. Adela is sent to live with her grandmother in Padua Beach after telling her parents that she’s pregnant. She has dreams of becoming an Olympic swimmer and plans to give her baby up for adoption. The story is organized according to the three trimesters of her pregnancy.

The Girls have been abandoned by their families and shunned by their community but they have found support, friendship and family in each other. They are living with the consequences of their actions, and are the only ones held to that standard. The fathers of these children are not being held to the same standard. The Girls are growing big in more ways than one throughout this story; the character arcs are just awesome.

I read this author’s debut and was very impressed with how well she could write at such a young age, and even more impressed with her nuanced perspective of the world. I knew I would be on the lookout for her next book and was thrilled to receive an advanced copy from NetGalley (though only just now getting around to reading it 🥴). Thank you, NetGalley! Her writing has only gotten better and her perspective even more thoughtful. This story will resonate with anyone that has ever eaten sand in their life; anyone that has chosen to do what is right for them instead of what is expected of them. Highly recommend this one.

[*TUDOR^QUEEN* · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

This was a study of a group of young, (unplanned) teenage mothers in the Florida panhandle who found refuge, friendship, and support with each other. They congregated mostly around the main character of Simone, who assumed a mother superior type leader role. She gives birth to twins (a boy and a girl) alone in the bed of her red truck as the book begins; a riveting scene that establishes this character as a force to be reckoned with. Her coterie of misfit young mothers use that red truck as a sort of home base/support site. People in town regard this group warily as a situation to stay away from. However, young girls in trouble approach them in trepidation, desperate for advice and direction.

While this was an interesting premise for a book and I enjoyed it, I had difficulty keeping track of all the young mothers and extended families/significant others. I also thought there was too much preachy dialogue amongst the characters and this could have been edited more.

Thank you to the publisher Knopf who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

Strong Start with Simone having a baby in the back of her Red Pick-Up Truck. Strong Writing. I really was moved by these characters. This one is about young girls learning to be women and mothers. They lean on each other and the change is profound. They demand to be seen, to try, to figure out the extremely difficult task of being a mother, and to begin to step into themselves. They win whether you feel like judging them or not. They deserve this as those who should help them for the most part don’t. Beautiful, but unapologetic writing. Leila Mottley is a Force to be Reckoned With and Her Writing Sits with you for a Long Time. Read This One.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for a copy of this book. I write reviews for all books I read

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Nightcrawling was released it was like a punch right to the face. Not only for its unrelenting storytelling, but also for the fact that said story came out of such a young author. To say The Girls Who Grew Big was one of my most anticipated reads of this year would be an understatement. Unfortunately this may have been a case where I needed to . . . .



Because while Mottley remains a master of words, I didn’t find this nearly as compelling as her debut. This actually seemed written by a young person and was full of underdeveloped, one note characters and a romanticized view of motherhood where even homelessness and unemployment didn’t ever seem to be anything to worry about. I’m sure many will love this and I hope it sells a billion copies - it just didn’t quite work for me.

[BookmarkedByAlia · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!!
This is one that I’d recommend to anyone who’s looking for something sad, enlightening and cozy.
These poor girls made the best out of the hands they were dealt and I couldn’t even imagine living the type of LJ es these girls were living when I was 16-17 years old.
I honestly wanted to punch every single character in this book-not just the girls but EVERYONE; however this is one that will stay with me for a while.
Please go pick this one up. Thank me later 😉

[Booksblabbering || Cait❣️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best writers of character voice I have read.

This is a story about teenage mothers who found each other from their singular aloneness, made family out of a truck bed and the milky delight of watching their babies grow through the fog of distant shame.
We follow three main girls from different walks of life - race, family, wealth, ambitions…

This book will shift the way you think and speak about young motherhood, girlhood. I was surprised to learn the author is not a mother herself because I felt every single emotion and struggle in her writing.

Judge us if you want, but first you have to witness us contort and expand. First you have to watch us become. Then, when you have seen the war we wrestled just to be here, the lives we created out of the void of this place, you can decide whether you want to talk to us about how we were too young, too ravenous, too susceptible to grief. But we bet, once you look out across the water we drank from, you’ll decide we were exactly what we always said we’d be. Girls. Mothers. Big, small, endless.

Every single character is strong in personality, unique in voice, and extremely distinct. The use of dialect and language and internal monologues is used to put you in these young women’s minds.

There is a strong supportive community they cultivate between themselves, despite the shame and stigma surrounding them - pushed on them.

Unrequited love is like believing in fairies for a little too long, past the age it’s acceptable. Sure, there’s the eventual devastation that this thing you thought was real suddenly evaporated into nothing. But the worst part of it is the shame that you ever believed at all.

Finally, the location of Padua Beach is very vivid. You will feel the heat, shake in the storms, splash in the water.

If you liked books like Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors, even the spotlighting of women by Kristin Hannah, you will enjoy this!

Arc gifted by Penguin Books.

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[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[anastasia ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a gorgeous, heart wrenching read. Just the embodiment of girlhood.

It follows three extraordinary, well developed, complicated young women who are just trying their best to live and make a life for their babies. It asks the question of how far can you really fly if everyone around you believes you don’t have wings to begin with — and are trying their damndest to convince to believe it, too. That you’re a flightless bird, stuck wherever you were unlucky enough to be born. And there’s a little baby in your arms that’s both a burden and a blessing, something that frees you and weight you down at the same time.

In the name of honesty, I’ll also mention some aspects that didn’t agree with me personally. The writing style, for example. I really admire the way that the author tried to be true to how she thought Emory and Simone would really talk and think, but I’d have to reread parts of their chapters over and over to understand what was being said. Some of the metaphors and similes were also too over-wrought for my taste — very flowery, very purple prose-esque.

I didn’t 100% connect in the way I wanted to any of the characters. (Except Noni. She was my favorite.) But the girls kept making mistake after mistake and not really learning, not trying to do better until the very end of the book — or their attempts to do better just made it worse. Their decisions simply flabbergasted me, both past and present. They went against reason over and over, leading with their hearts and their desires to feel loved — and while I understand this feeling completely, it also got tiring.

This was a beautiful portrayal of the fallibility of womanhood, girlhood, human-hood…but it also frustrated me. As I’m trying to write reviews with 100% honesty, sometimes this book made me feel more annoyance and pity than empathy. Example (MILD SPOILER AHEAD!!!!): when Emory revealed she got pregnant with Kai on purpose because she stopped taking her birth control. Like…girl. You are fifteen. How did it never occur to you that having a baby ten years before your frontal lobe develops might be an iffy idea? Or Adela’s lies, the way Adela uses people and doesn’t think about the consequences. The way Simone loses her temper.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

[Stitching Ghost · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think I have much to add about this book that hasn't been said hundreds of times.

Rarely have I ever read about teen pregnancy from such an honest and uncluttered point of view.

Mottley is definitely one of these authors you should keep an eye on, not only is her prose great but her insight is keen.

That said, there's a bit about a corn snake eating dead roaches which had me chuckling. Sure, these little guys are opportunistic feeders that could possibly eat a roach but that's not normal behavior for them. Mostly, it was funny to me because I have a pet corn snake who won't even take her food if it's not offered with the proper feeding tongs.

4.5 rounded up.

[Tini · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving, unflinching portrait of girlhood interrupted - and redefined - through the lives of three teenage mothers.

"Motherhood made you believe blindly, hope endlessly, behave irrationally, as long as it meant those children tucked safely in the pocket of your love."

“She would never know a love as pure as the one l had for my babies, a love that began and ended the way oceans did: nowhere and everywhere, a thrashing constant.”

Sixteen-year-old Adela Woods, newly pregnant and abruptly exiled from her privileged Indiana life, is sent to live with her grandmother in the small Florida panhandle town of Padua Beach. There, she encounters Emory, who brings her newborn to high school, and Simone, already a mother of twins and now unexpectedly pregnant again. Together, these girls - along with others who call the back of Simone’s red truck home - form an unconventional but fiercely loyal collective of young mothers determined not just to survive, but thrive.

Author Leila Mottley’s gift lies in her ability to write with both rawness and tenderness. Her prose is honest - often jarringly so - but always beautiful, and she captures the inner lives of her characters with clarity and care, never reducing them to stereotypes. Each "Girl" in this novel has a voice that is distinct, vibrant, and full of agency. They are strong, complicated, and resilient young women, striving not just to stay afloat, but to build something of their own in a world that doubts them at every turn.

The novel is structured around Adela’s pregnancy trimesters, a subtle but effective narrative device that mirrors the growth and deepening complexity of the girls' relationships with each other and with themselves. As the seasons shift and the girls' stories intertwine more intricately, Mottley invites the reader to consider what it means to grow up while raising someone else, and whether the world allows young women like these to grow at all.

Despite the heavy subject matters - teen pregnancy, systemic failure, betrayal, poverty, and abortion, to name a few - "The Girls Who Grew Big" is full of heart, hope, and unexpected joy. The novel explores friendship, girl- and womanhood, motherhood, and sexuality with emotional depth and honesty, critiquing the institutions that fail young women while celebrating the fierce love and community they build in response.

A luminous, necessary story about girls who are told they are lost, when in truth, they are just finding their own way forward.

[Lisa Burgos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three pregnant teenagers who have recently given birth in the small Florida town of Padua Beach, have come together since their parents or others have turned them out.

Simone is the leader of the girls, and she has four-year-old twins. She’s not happy to find herself pregnant again.

Adela is in town living with her grandmother while pregnant, she wants to return to her old life of competitive swimming back in Indiana.

Emory has a new baby and is determined to finish high school. The teachers don’t want her to bring a baby to school.

The girls navigate friendship and motherhood,while others in town look down on them and expect for them to fail.

[jenny✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow - i feel like i've been transported to a small town in somewhere-but-nowhere, florida, and just spat back out right into the cold and snow of toronto in february!

Loving them kids was like holding my breath. At first it almost hurt but now it was simply how air moved through me, held in place while they was sleepin’ or screamin’ or slippin’ in the bath bucket.
And then there was times when they knocked the wind outta me, when a sizzling laugh or a sticky kiss or a lopsided jump could plow right through me and unleash breath, and that release was enough to sustain through the continuous tight clench. They changed the very way I sustained life, right down to the brilliant gnaw of breath.

the girls who grew big is so undeniably visceral, and i credit this to the girls - simone, adela, emory, crystal, april, jamilah, tori, and even noni - brought to life by the poetry of leila mottley's prose, which is simultaneously fine as gossamer and gritty as sand between teeth. the writing in this novel is so wholly immersive, and padua beach - a fictional town, so small it's not on any maps, the girls' home; emerald bays and white sand, swamps, heat - emerges as a protagonist in her own right.