"Exquisitely compassionate and witty, Big Girl traces the intergenerational hungers and desires of Black womanhood, as told through the unforgettable voice of Malaya Clondon. In her highly anticipated debut novel, Mecca Jamilah Sullivan explores the perils--and undeniable beauty--of insatiable longing. Growing up in a rapidly changing Harlem, eight-year-old Malaya hates when her mother drags her to Weight Watchers meetings; she'd rather paint alone in her bedroom or enjoy forbidden street foods with her father. For Malaya, the pressures of her predominantly white Upper East Side prep school are relentless, as are the expectations passed down from her painfully proper mother and sharp-tongued grandmother. As she comes of age in the 1990s, she finds solacein the music of Biggie Smalls and Aaliyah, but her weight continues to climb--until a family tragedy forces her to face the source of her hunger, ultimately shattering her inherited stigmas surrounding women's bodies, and embracing her own desire. Written with vibrant lyricism shot through with tenderness, Big Girl announces Sullivan as an urgent and vital voice in contemporary fiction"-- - (Baker & Taylor)

A young, plus-size girl in 1990s Harlem tries to meet the lofty expectations of her painfully proper mother, sharp-tongued grandmother and her mostly white Upper East Side prep school while finding solace in the music of Biggie Smalls and Aaliyah. - (Baker & Taylor)

Big GirlhatesBig Girl - (WW Norton)

Exquisitely compassionate and witty, Big Girl traces the intergenerational hungers and desires of Black womanhood, as told through the unforgettable voice of Malaya Clondon. - (WW Norton)

Big GirlHeavy: An American MemoirBig GirlBig GirlRedefining RealnessSurpassing CertaintyRed at the BoneLong Bright RiverHeftPatsyHere Comes the SunBig GirlUnder the Udala Trees - (WW Norton)

Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* Sullivan's debut novel is an engrossing coming-of-age story starring Malaya, a young teenager facing the world in a body that is constantly scrutinized, commented on, and judged. Growing up in 1990s Harlem, Malaya thinks about little else besides when, where, and what she is going to eat. She sits through Weight Watchers meetings with her mother, who also struggles with her weight, knowing that she will be rewarded with french fries. She sneaks second dinners, indulges in the treats her friend Shaniece brings for the bus ride to school, and shares forbidden bodega sandwiches and Chinese food with her father. As she continues to put on weight, her mother urges a variety of solutions while her grandmother tries to scare her with threats, such as no man will want a woman that big. All the while, Malaya wonders what it even means to be a woman, and what it means to become one in a fat, Black body like hers. There are no broad strokes in this novel. With grace and patience, Sullivan invites the reader into Malaya's interior world—one of yearnings and rejections—and her rapidly changing exterior world. An affecting and memorable debut. Copyright 2022 Booklist Reviews.

Library Journal Reviews

A Lambda Literary Award winner for her collection Blue Talk and Love, Sullivan offers full-length fiction featuring eight-year-old Harlemite Malaya, who's resistant to her prim mother's efforts to send her to Weight Watchers; she'd rather be painting in her room or indulging in street food with her dad. She must also cope with fierce pressures at her mostly white Upper East Side prep school. Eventually, family tragedy makes her rethink the source of her hunger and face down stigmas about women's bodies.