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Nightcrawling

By: Leila Mottley
Narrated by: Joniece Abbott-Pratt
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Publisher's summary

2022 Booker Prize, Long-listed
2023 California Book Award, Winner
2022 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, Long-listed
2023 Lambda Literary Award, Short-listed
2023 PEN/Hemingway Award for Best First Novel, Long-listed

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • AN OPRAH BOOK CLUB PICK • A dazzling novel about a young Black woman who walks the streets of Oakland and stumbles headlong into the failure of its justice system. This debut of a blazingly original voice “bursts at the seams of every page and swallows you whole” (Tommy Orange, author of There There).

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, TIME, GOODREADS

Kiara and her brother, Marcus, are scraping by in an East Oakland apartment complex optimistically called the Regal-Hi. Both have dropped out of high school, their family fractured by death and prison

But while Marcus clings to his dream of rap stardom, Kiara hunts for work to pay their rent—which has more than doubled—and to keep the nine-year-old boy next door, abandoned by his mother, safe and fed. One night, what begins as a drunken misunderstanding with a stranger turns into the job Kiara never imagined wanting but now desperately needs: nightcrawling. Her world breaks open even further when her name surfaces in an investigation that exposes her as a key witness in a massive scandal within the Oakland Police Department.

Rich with raw beauty, electrifying intensity, and piercing vulnerability, Nightcrawling marks the stunning arrival of a voice unlike any we have heard before.

©2022 Leila Mottley (P)2022 Random House Audio
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Critic reviews

BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE • A New York Times Writer to Watch • THE CENTER FOR FICTION'S FIRST NOVEL PRIZE NOMINEE • Lambda Literary Award Finalist

“Astonishing . . . Nightcrawling heralds a bold new voice in fiction.”Associated Press

“Mottley writes with a lyrical abandon.”New York Times Book Review

Nightcrawling really is a powerful, poignant story worth your attention . . . Revelatory . . . My god—that voice. It’s sometimes too painful to keep reading, but always too urgent to stop.”—Ron Charles, Washington Post

Interview: ‘Nightcrawling’ Gives Voice to a Real Life Tragedy—and a Debut Author’s Triumph

'A lot of what I wanted this book to do is show the expectations and the obligations that are put onto Black girls before we even have an understanding of what our options are.'
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  • Nightcrawling
  • 'A lot of what I wanted this book to do is show the expectations and the obligations that are put onto Black girls before we even have an understanding of what our options are.'

Editorial Review

Last but definitely not least
June is a month so very nice, I insisted on doing my "Editor’s Select" twice! Soon after gulping down Cult Classic, I finally got the audio for one of the year’s most impressive debuts—and it was way too good not to squeeze it in at the last minute. Nightcrawling is an ambitious, lyrical, heart-shattering debut that’s almost impossible to believe was written by a teenager—but then again, I can’t imagine anyone else taking the reins of this story with such authenticity and fire. Leila Mottley, the former Youth Poet Laureate of Oakland, centers her first novel on her beloved hometown and a terrible injustice that happened there: the story of a young Black girl who literally stumbles onto sex work as a way to avoid eviction, and ends up sexually abused and exploited by a network of cops. Don’t let the dark subject matter turn you off. Mottley’s main character, Kiara, voiced by the uber-talented Joniece Abbott-Pratt, suffuses the story with piercing insights on race, gender, class, and family, not to mention exquisite moments of radiance, beauty, and hope. Not much older than Kiara herself, Mottley is a major new voice in fiction, and I predict we’re going to want to hear her every word. — Kat J.

What listeners say about Nightcrawling

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Wish there had been an ending with justice

I throughly enjoyed this book. It amplified a real issue in our country which is the violence against black and brown women and the lack of empathy for our pain.

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By far one of the best written books I've ever read!

Incredible storyteller! The storyline is tough and real but the authors writing style and descriptions are like no other! The narrator is excellent. I went from wow to tears to sadness. A must read/listen for all!

Congratulations young woman, you have an amazing gift! Thank you for sharing it with the world!

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Gritty and heartful, beautifully narrarated

Tore through the novel in a few days. I wasn't sure at first, but I was quickly sucked into the gritty reality that Kiara lives in. I think this one is definitely better listened to via audiobook than read. There are many run on sentences that sound better than they read. The narrator does a beautiful job telling the story.

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Phenomenal!

It was extremely hard to list to the horrific trama inflicted on many of the characters in the story. Chapter 21-24 were gut wrenching. The author painted a masterpiece.

The narration was superb.

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Incredibly sad, brilliantly written

The pain in this novel is relentless. You will long for something lightweight when you finish but the writing is outstanding. Amazing that it was written by a teenager. This young woman is someone to watch!

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Powerful

This was a gripping, sad story. The excellent writing and vocal performance painted crystal-clear pictures. Beautifully done. It's hard to believe the author is 20 years old.

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Powerful & Heartbreaking

This book was so many things. The characters were so well developed and felt like very real people. The story itself often left me on the edge of my seat in a way where I wanted to know what came next but I was also afraid of what would come next.

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Closer to home Andrew Tate World

This book hurts and is at times hard to read. Our society promotes the exploitation of woman. We breed young men to become this. The writing is amazing and the reading of it is excellent.

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Emotional

I totally enjoyed listening to this story. While driving to work and home, I listened to this story.

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Great story

The book made me reminisce on my childhood and how the story took me back to some moments. Well written and highlights common issues with poverty, sex abuse, youth, lack of help or options for folks in hardship and abuse of power.

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