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Oakland teen's book is new Oprah's Book Club pick

By KTVU staff
Published  June 7, 2022 5:36pm PDT
Oakland
KTVU FOX 2

Oakland teen's book is new Oprah's Book Club pick

An East Oakland teenager has published a book that has caught Oprah's attention. Leila Mottley's first novel, 'Nightcrawling' has made it as an Oprah's Book Club pick. She's the youngest author to have had this distinction.

OAKLAND, Calif. - An East Oakland teenager has published a book that has caught Oprah's attention. 

In a social media post on the Oprah's Book Club Twitter page, Oprah Winfrey says she's excited to introduce an incredible new talent. 

"Her first novel has just wowed me," Winfrey says. She's talking about ‘Nightcrawling’ by Leila Mottley. Mottley is about to turn 20 years old. She began her debut novel when she was 16 and finished it when she was 17, according to Oprahdaily.com, the website that plugs the book picks. 

The novel involves some autobiographical components; including a young Black woman from East Oakland and her struggles with poverty, racism and the police. In the novel, Mottley's protagonist, Kiara, deals with gentrification as well as being sexually exploited by a fictitious network of Oakland Police Department officers. 

Mottley has the distinction of becoming the youngest author ever to be selected for the book club. Her bio on the Penguin Random House publishing page indicates she is also the 2018 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate. Her work has also been featured in the New York Times.