Allegedly by Tiffany Jackson

In this debut novel for Jackson, a little girl, Mary B. Addison, a black girl, has murdered a white baby. Mary was just a child when this happened. She was in baby jail for six years and then put into a group home. Later on, Mary is threatened by the state and the only person she trusts is her mom.

One thing I particularly liked about the novel is that all throughout the book, at random points, Jackson would input dialogue from "interviews" detectives had with Mary after the murder. Other times, she would put excerpts from stories about the little girl. I also like how Jackson wrote this haunting story in which she recognizes how people have a dark and good side to them. Another thing I like goes along with the title. At the beginning of the novel, it says Mary killed a baby, "allegedly." Which makes you think, "Did she really kill the baby, or did somebody set her up?" This is an exhilarating and haunting novel written by a new author who is sure to have many more successes in her career. A great read!