I want to be able to give girls that lens. And how your friends or family may be manipulated by a man, and how you could potentially be groomed. I think it's important, especially in this day and age, to give kids who are potentially going through those same situations an idea of how they could be manipulated by a man. The adults continually blame victims for their victimhood. $16 at Barnes & Noble Credit: Katherine Tegen Books Kelly documentary was the reaction to it. Because one of the things I hated so much about the R. I wanted to find these types of stories that give the scope of the situation and really give the facts behind it. I never got the full scope of the story, only bits and pieces that we heard from adults. TDJ: A lot of the circumstances I cover have been things I’ve seen as a child or teenager that were never fully addressed. What made you use these as your inspiration, and how do you think your novels bring justice to Black girls? Many victims can see themselves in this story, regardless of who the perpetrator was.ĪV: All of your novels center Black girls and are typically inspired by current events or headlines. Kelly, there are so many girls who go through something similar. When I set out to do this particular case - knowing that I was going to put a lot of myself in this - I wanted to drill down to the point that even though this is loosely inspired by the situation with R. JACKSON: Most of my books are loosely inspired by real cases. Recently, she spoke with Shondaland about believing victims, tackling tough issues in young adult novels, and losing yourself in men.ĪRRIEL VINSON: In the galley letter, you mentioned that you had an older boyfriend as a teen and that this novel is not about R. Jackson is the author of four books, including the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe New Talent Award-winning novel, Monday’s Not Coming, and the NAACP Image Award-nominated Allegedly.

And what begins as a semi-professional relationship quickly turns into a romantic one, and in the end, someone ends up dead. Instead of his charismatic public persona, Enchanted learns that a controlling, dark man hides behind his Korey’s charm. Korey promises to make Enchanted a star as long as she promises to follow his lead. I was trying to challenge the idea of being grown, and why we have to rob children of their childhood, rob children of their innocence by judging a book by its cover.Īfter Enchanted Jones, a 17-year-old aspiring singer, meets R&B star Korey Fields, who’s more than 10 years her senior, at an audition, her life changes.

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