Grown

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2020

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Part 1, Chapters 1-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary: “Beet Juice”

In the present day, 17-year-old Enchanted Jones wakes up in the penthouse of Korey Fields. She notices that the place is covered in blood, which she calls “beet juice.” Korey is dead in his bed. Police knock on the door, and Enchanted urinates on herself.

Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary: “Swim Good”

Several months earlier, Enchanted warms up for swim practice and sings for her teammates, but she is reminded that no one shares her passion for music. Even being compared to Beyonce saddens her, because “that’s the only black singer [her classmates] know” (5). At the end of practice, Enchanted takes a moment to warm-up her voice and practice her audition song. Enchanted imagines herself as a mermaid, like Ariel from the Disney film The Little Mermaid, because she loves to swim, has a beautiful voice, and longs to be a part of a different world.

Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary: “Caged Birds Must Sing”

Enchanted’s mother, LaToya, picks her up from school, thinking she is taking Enchanted to a swim meet. When Enchanted admits that she actually wants to audition for a singing competition, her mother is hesitant, but agrees. Right before her audition, music superstar Korey Fields enters the auditorium, and Enchanted is certain she will “make a fool out of [herself]” (17).

Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary: “Heart Song”

Enchanted is nervous, but during her audition, she sings directly to Korey, “The way [she] used to sing to Grandma during [her] living room concerts when [she] was a kid” (19). Korey is impressed, but the judges vote to not send Enchanted to the next round.

Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary: “Bright Eyes”

Backstage, Enchanted is devastated, but Korey Fields finds her and strikes up a conversation. He gives her a quick voice lesson, “laying one hand flat on [her] stomach, then the other on the middle of [her] back” (23). When Korey sees the nervousness on her face, he assures her that she is safe with him. Korey learns that Enchanted is 17, and he invites her and her parents to his next concert. Enchanted is left wondering if “Korey Fields would ever be into [her]” (25).

Part 1, Chapter 6 Summary: “A Star is Born”

Enchanted lists facts about Korey Fields’s life and career: Korey is a musical prodigy and highly-awarded musician. But the most important detail she includes twice: “Korey Fields is twenty-eight years old” (27).

Part 1, Chapters 1-6 Analysis

Jackson uses the opening chapters to introduce Enchanted and show the beginning of her relationship with Korey. The first chapter establishes the pressing murder mystery that will be intertwined throughout the novel: Korey Fields is dead, and his murderer might be Enchanted. The opening scene begs for context, and Jackson utilizes nonlinear plot techniques to toggle between the past and present and build suspense.

Despite having a loving family and a supportive best friend, Enchanted still feels alone. She goes to a school where she is one of very few Black students, and her parents want her to focus on her studies and getting into college. Enchanted feels lonely and isolated in her life. She wants someone who will believe in her, but more than that, she longs for someone who will share her love of music. Enchanted’s attachment to The Little Mermaid becomes an important motif in the novel, emphasizing her emotional connection to music and foreshadowing how she will metaphorically lose her voice and agency, as Ariel has her voice stolen in the film.

When Enchanted connects with Korey, she clearly admires him and finds inspiration in his story of humble beginnings. Korey, like Enchanted, has a natural talent for music, and his love for it consumed him as a child, much like it consumes Enchanted now. Enchanted isn’t just attracted to Korey’s love for music, though: he may be much older than her, but their initial meeting sparks a crush, and at the end of Chapter 6, Enchanted is left wrestling with the age gap that will fuel the conflict of the rest of the novel.