This book takes the reader through protagonist, African-American Mary Addison’s experiences from age 15-16 as an alleged convict in Brooklyn, New York. A three month old white infant, Alyssa Richardson, was killed while under the care of Mary and her mother. This led to the sentencing of 9 year old Mary for manslaughter and placement into what she calls ‘baby jail’. She is later transferred to a group home full of other young convicts. While bouncing between her life at the group home and her community service job at the nursing home, Mary meets Ted, who is 2 years older than her. Mary then learns she is pregnant with Ted’s child, who as a convict, she will be unable to keep for her own. This infuriates Mary, causing her to brainstorm anything that could potentially let her keep her child. She then chooses to uncover Alyssa’s case, pleading her innocence that she was never brave enough to fight for.
I would recommend this book because it was a very realistic novel that was gripping and suspenseful. There is some mature content in this book, in terms of themes and language. This book was very well written and is perfect for anyone who likes a mystery or thriller read. I really enjoyed this book because there were many storylines and parts of the story that were left to the reader’s interpretation. After finishing the book, you had to truly ponder what you just read which I feel helps build my reading skills. Overall, I highly recommend this well-written novel that I couldn’t put down!
By Anonymous
