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Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson
Mary Addison has spent the last six years of her life locked up in juvenile detention, convicted of killing a white baby who was left in the care of Mary's mother. Now fifteen, the African American teen finds herself pregnant and at risk of having her own child taken away. Desperate to keep her baby, Mary makes a startling confession — she did not kill the baby in her mother's care. But with a conviction hanging over her head, it might be hard to convince anyone she's telling the truth.
Review from School Library Journal Starred:
Jackson delivers a requiem about systemic issues of injustice in this debut novel that portrays the juvenile justice system, meant to rehabilitate youth who have gone astray, and the social service system, which is intended to defend those whose rights have been infringed upon. Interwoven with case study excerpts, depositions, and inmate interviews, this gripping thriller centers on 16-year-old Mary Beth Addison, who was incarcerated for the alleged murder of a three-month-old infant. Not all of the clues point to then nine-year-old Mary's guilt, though. Now Mary is in a group home with hopes of moving into the world and maybe even to college. But she's been unable to get her birth certificate from her mother, and she needs the document to take her SATs. She's also just learned that she's pregnant, which threatens to turn her macabre existence into a permanent nightmare. Because Mary is underage and her 18-year-old boyfriend, Ted, is also in a group facility, their child will be put up for adoption after Mary gives birth, but Mary will go to any length to prevent that from happening. With remarkable skill, Jackson offers an unflinching portrayal of the raw social outcomes when youth are entrapped in a vicious cycle of nonparenting and are sent spiraling down the prison-for-profit pipeline.
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