“Reproductive justice is as much about our right to have children and to raise children with resources and support as it is about our right to not have children.”
- – Leila Mottley, author
“Raw, wild, and achingly beautiful, The Girls Who Grew Big is one of the most spiritually accurate and electric portrayals of motherhood I’ve ever read. Leila Mottley is the real deal.”
—Rufi Thorpe, author of Margo’s Got Money Troubles
LISTEN
In this episode Lissa talks with author Leila Mottley about her latest novel, The Girls Who Grew Big (Alfred A. Knopf 2025)
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, who weighs an abortion in the heart of the South; 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.
GO DEEPER
Learn more about Reproductive Justice from the Black Activist Writer Blog.
Learn more about Leila Mottley
Simone, (one of the character’s in Leila’s book) gave birth and raised her children in an old red truck. Learn more about issues related to being “homeless” or “unhoused”, from The Catalyst.
WHAT IS LEILA MOTTLEY READING?
Leaving Atlanta by Tayari Jones
ENJOY!
Our production team for this episode includes co-producers Lissa Jones and Edie French, technical director Paul Auguston, the voice Yo Derek, and our artist of inspiration Ta-coumba T. Aiken. We thank Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota for supporting this series focusing on the intersection of health, race, and culture.