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Free Girls
Not yet published
Expected 7 Jul 26A heartfelt coming-of-age debut about a girl starting over while keeping secret she's spent the last year in juvenile detention. Perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and Leah Johnson.
Sixteen-year-old Jasmine Cooper is back after twelve months at Guiding Hearts Home for Troubled Girls, and nothing is the way it was. Her mom has remarried and now there’s a big new house, a shiny new family, and a fancy new school. Jas feels completely out of place, and things only get more complicated when her mom insists that her “fresh start” include hiding the truth of where she’s been and cutting off people from her past.
As Jas settles into her new life bonding with her seemingly perfect stepsister, making a close-knit group of besties, and maybe even falling for the cute girl in class, it starts to feel like her second chance might actually be real.
But when a friend from the detention center reaches out to reconnect, Jas worries that everything she’s built could fall apart. How long can she keep her past a secret? And how many times can she spin the truth before she forgets who she really is?
Sixteen-year-old Jasmine Cooper is back after twelve months at Guiding Hearts Home for Troubled Girls, and nothing is the way it was. Her mom has remarried and now there’s a big new house, a shiny new family, and a fancy new school. Jas feels completely out of place, and things only get more complicated when her mom insists that her “fresh start” include hiding the truth of where she’s been and cutting off people from her past.
As Jas settles into her new life bonding with her seemingly perfect stepsister, making a close-knit group of besties, and maybe even falling for the cute girl in class, it starts to feel like her second chance might actually be real.
But when a friend from the detention center reaches out to reconnect, Jas worries that everything she’s built could fall apart. How long can she keep her past a secret? And how many times can she spin the truth before she forgets who she really is?
288 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication July 7, 2026
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181 people want to read
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Review of advance copy received from Author
Free Girls by Kristen McCallum is a powerful debut honoring Black girlhood and the relationship between mothers and daughters.
Jasmine comes home after a year in detention and nothing fits the way it used to. Her mother has rebuilt her life including a new husband, new house, new school district, new expectations. And Jasmine is expected to slide quietly into this “fresh start” as if the last year never happened. As if secrecy is the same thing as healing.
This novel names something we don’t talk about enough: how quickly Black girls are treated like grown women when they make teenage mistakes. How punishment often replaces protection. How shame lingers long after the sentence is over. Jasmine isn’t just navigating a new school or a possible crush, she’s negotiating truth. Who gets to know her story? What does she owe her past? What does she owe herself?
Free Girls is about repair. About facing the people you didn’t realize you needed closure from. About forgiving a mother who made choices out of survival. About forgiving yourself. It reminds us that freedom isn’t just about being released from responsibility it’s about reclaiming your name, your voice, and your right to start again without disappearing who you’ve been. I loved the queer rep/romance as well!
Jasmine comes home after a year in detention and nothing fits the way it used to. Her mother has rebuilt her life including a new husband, new house, new school district, new expectations. And Jasmine is expected to slide quietly into this “fresh start” as if the last year never happened. As if secrecy is the same thing as healing.
This novel names something we don’t talk about enough: how quickly Black girls are treated like grown women when they make teenage mistakes. How punishment often replaces protection. How shame lingers long after the sentence is over. Jasmine isn’t just navigating a new school or a possible crush, she’s negotiating truth. Who gets to know her story? What does she owe her past? What does she owe herself?
Free Girls is about repair. About facing the people you didn’t realize you needed closure from. About forgiving a mother who made choices out of survival. About forgiving yourself. It reminds us that freedom isn’t just about being released from responsibility it’s about reclaiming your name, your voice, and your right to start again without disappearing who you’ve been. I loved the queer rep/romance as well!
Displaying 1 of 1 review