FREE GIRLS by Kristen McCallum
9781250320261
7/7/2026
Flatiron Books
Ages 12-18
Egalley available on Edelweiss or NetGalley
Jasmine Cooper has spent the past year in juvenile detention. She might be out now, but she’s not back home . . . because home has totally changed. Her mom has remarried and moved into a fancy new house in a fancy new neighborhood that is the complete opposite of the neighborhood Jasmine left behind. Jasmine also has to contend with a seemingly perfect new stepsister and a whole new school. At first, she feels like she doesn’t fit in anywhere, but she slowly begins to open up and make friends. She might even be falling for the cute girl in her class. But no one knows the truth about where she was last year, and when an old friend from the detention center shows up and wants to reconnect, Jas worries that the new life she’s built could come tumbling down.
Written with authenticity and care, FREE GIRLS is a powerful debut about finding your place and your voice in a world hellbent on pushing you down; about the complexity of mother-daughter relationships; and about the extreme injustice Black girls often experience in the criminal justice system. Within the pages, the past and present timelines are woven together seamlessly, giving the reader up-close insights into Jasmine’s year at the detention center and just how she ended up there. FREE GIRLS is a beautiful and heartbreaking coming-of-age story, as well as a sweet sapphic love story, with an ending that is ultimately hopeful. Kristen McCallum’s triumph of a novel will be perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon and Leah Johnson.
Happy reading!
<3 Emily
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