"As a bibliotherapist who works closely with Black girls and women, Free Girls feels painfully real. Kristen McCallum captures what I see in my practice every day: how quickly Black girls are adultified, how harshly they’re judged for adolescent mistakes, and how long shame lingers after the punishment ends. Jasmine’s journey toward truth and self-forgiveness is a reminder that second chances aren’t about erasing the past, they’re about reclaiming your story and learning to hold yourself with compassion. A powerful debut honoring Black girlhood and the relationship between mothers and daughters.” —Emely Rumble, LICSW, author of Bibliotherapy in the Bronx

"There's a real art to capturing the bittersweetness where 'wanting to and knowing you can change' collides with 'this is how the people closest to you have decided you are.' McCallum masterfully expresses this aching, evergreen feeling through Free Girls' Jasmine: Change and its attendant freedom might beckon in the form of a new town, friend group, family, or crush, but you can't answer its call until you know which version of yourself is running into its embrace.” —Lio Min, author of The L.O.V.E. Club

"With poignancy and an enviable effortlessness, McCallum strikes a chord about the universal feeling of not being 'good enough' and the difference being seen can make." —Ciera Burch, author of Out of Step, Into You