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Tiffany D. Jackson: The Weight of Blood

Chris Well

Author photo by Kolin Mendez

Ramps up the horror and tackles America’s history and legacy of racism in this suspenseful YA novel…

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection and a Kids’ Indie Next List Pick: When Springville residents—at least the ones still alive—are questioned about what happened on prom night, they all have the same explanation...Maddy did it.

An outcast at her small-town Georgia high school, Madison Washington has always been a teasing target for bullies. And she’s dealt with it because she has more pressing problems to manage. Until the morning a surprise rainstorm reveals her most closely kept secret: Maddy is biracial. She has been passing for white her entire life at the behest of her fanatical white father, Thomas Washington.

After a viral bullying video pulls back the curtain on Springville High’s racist roots, student leaders come up with a plan to change their image: host the school’s first integrated prom as a show of unity. The popular white class president convinces her Black superstar quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to be his date, leaving Maddy wondering if it’s possible to have a normal life.

But some of her classmates aren’t done with her just yet. And what they don’t know is that Maddy still has another secret…one that will cost them all their lives.

The Weight of Blood
Tiffany D. Jackson
Katherine Tegen Books

Buy The Weight of Blood from Amazon (affiliate link)

Tiffany D. Jackson is a TV professional by day, novelist by night, awkward black girl 24/7. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Film from Howard University and her Master of Arts in Media Studies from The New School University. A Brooklyn native, she is a lover of naps, cookie dough, and beaches, currently residing in the borough she loves most likely multitasking.

Quote from the author

“I never know what issue I’m going to tackle when I open up a case,” Jackson told Arkana. “Because, a lot of times, when you start unpacking the cases, you start unpacking all the issues that are surrounding the case. Then when you start looking at the “villain,” the villain isn’t a person, per se…but the villain is rooted in a society that’s covering that villain. So, we want to ask questions like, ‘Why is this happening?’ and ‘How can we stop it from happening?’ I feel like it’s important to look at all the elements of how something happened and then tackle that element as the actual issue at hand.”

Reviews

“Jackson has a Stephen King vibe going throughout this story. What happens at the prom and afterward is something right out of a horror movie. Think Carrie in a small town set among a first integrated prom that goes horribly wrong. Add a biracial protagonist with the ability of telekinesis to have one amazing story.” (YA Books Central)

“I continue to be blown away by each and every Tiffany D. Jackson novel, by her craftsmanship and her ability to terrify, haunt, and surprise me. She gives me exactly what I want in a thriller and never fails to impress and satisfy.” (School Library Journal)

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