Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Jessica McKay (Eden’s Light)!
Meet the Author: Jessica McKay
Jessica McKay‘s debut picture book, Always with You, Always with me, was co-written with Kelly Rowland and was an instant New York Times bestseller. Her work shines a light on the power of maternal love, starts important conversations, and validates the big feelings of small children with big hearts. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and three children.
About the Book: Eden’s Light
A gentle story to help parents and children discuss racial injustice and empower young readers to let their inner lights shine
Like her favorite superheroes, Eden always knew how to save the day.
That is, until one night, she sees something troubling on the television: the story of a Black man who was unjustly treated and hurt by the police. For the first time, Eden feels scared, and she’s not exactly sure how to explain it. She does know one thing for sure: the dark seems much scarier now than it did before.
Eden’s parents try their best to explain that she is protected and safe, but none of the things that usually soothe her work. It’s only when her mother reminds Eden that people can never take away her inner light that Eden understands her most powerful tool to fight the dark.
~Author Chat~
YABC: What inspired you to write this book?
As a parent and educator, I was asked by many parents in 2020, “How can I discuss George Floyd with my young child without making them feel inferior?” Now, in 2025 I find those questions still ever present and arguably even more urgent. Through Eden’s Light, I wanted to answer such questions. But I wanted to do it in a way that centers our children and their humanity. Eden’s mother gives her affirmations that help her understand her Blackness outside of racism. Rather than centering racism, she centers Eden.
YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
There’s a very subtle but powerful part towards the end of the story that I’m obsessed with! When Eden’s mother is having a beautiful talk with her, she tells Eden to take off her cape and then she continues talking. That’s it! So small you could miss it! But the celebratory and symbolic removal of Eden’s cape (and superhero mask by the end of the story) really get to the heart of what the story is all about. This beautiful moment is void of any white gaze and full of pride and joy. Ultimately, it is this humanness and self-love that is our super power, forcing readers to re-think and re-imagine both the superhero genre and what it means to have power as well as ‘Black Girl Magic” and life beyond supernatural strength.
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
I remember when I was first trying to pitch my first book Always With You, Always With Me and one publisher said, “There aren’t many books with the parent on the cover. Children’s books really should center the child.” Here I am now with two books with covers that have the mother on them. I love how illustrator Jestenia Southerland chose to put Eden and her mother in a warm and loving embrace as the cover. To me it shows importance of a mother’s love in turbulent times. At one point in Paul Tough’s How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, he reports, “Parents and other caregivers who are able to form close, nurturing relationships with their children can foster resilience in them that protects them from many of the worst effects of a harsh early environment.” I always remember that being so powerful to me. So this cover, in its soft and gentle simplicity is actually meant to be powerful and empowering.
YABC: What is the main message or lesson you want your reader to remember from this book?
Of course, the main message I want children reading this book to get is that the scary things in the news and in the world do not define them. Whether it’s police brutality, changes in laws about women’s bodies, wars, or anything scary, the happenings in the world cannot overpower the light within. And this inner toolbox of family, joy, meals with your people, and love can sustain you through those dark times.
But a secondary but equally as penetrating message will hopefully show through in the shattering of Eden’s self-imposed superhero identity. I want EDEN’S LIGHT to do for young Black girls what some recent television shows have done for Black women: celebrate our “regularness” and therefore our humanity. A review of I May Destroy You reads, “It’s rare for black female characters to exist in a reality that allows them the space to figure things out in a less than perfect way. Black women are expected to be intuitive, wise, trustworthy superhero caretakers and any deviation from that role is viewed as less than respectable. I May Destroy You shines when it plays with this stereotype.”
Similarly, Kendrick Sampson from Insecure said in an interview once, “We’re either portrayed as sub-human or superhuman as Black people. We’re either criminalized and demonized or we have to be a hidden figure to earn the right for our story to be told. We have to explore the gray areas… those insecure areas that display us flaws and all in all our beauty…and see how we navigate that.”
I want Eden to know that she doesn’t have to do anything to be super. She can feel scared and wobbly in life sometimes and still be super. In fact, because she’s tapped in to her inner light, she IS super. Period.
YABC: What are your favorite themes or tropes?
In 2020, I really started seeing the power in joy and rest as resistance. So I love how those themes are at play in Eden’s life. Her mom gives her permission to rest and to smile in the midst of some horrible things happening in the world. It’s so important to learn to lean into that which no one can take from you. It’s no coincidence that the moment to truth and understanding happens in Eden’s bed while she’s at rest. Letting our children be happy and free is resistance and revolutionary. They weren’t always allowed to be that.
YABC: Do you have a playlist you listened to while writing?
No! I actually need to write in absolute silence haha.
YABC: Do you have an unusual office supply that helps you in your writing routine?
Nope, just me and my laptop.
YABC: If you could collaborate with any other writer in history, who would it be?
Langston Hughes. Not really collaboration because that feels very arrogant and millennial of me to say that I, a newby at this, could collaborate with one of our GOATs. But I would want his poems to be in conversation with my books. I want “Lullaby (for a Black Mother)” to be in conversation with Always With You, Always With Me. And I would want “The Dream Keeper” to be in conversation with Eden’s Light. And then I’d want readers to see how these poems inspired each of my books so far.
But really anyone from the Harlem Renaissance. I love that time period. All about celebrating us. My daughter is named Claude McKay. I used to have a black cat named Langston 😊.
YABC: What would you say is your superpower?
Well as you saw above, I’m trying to redefine the word superpower 😊. So I would say my superpower is internal. It’s my limitless imagination. My heartbeat in moments of quiet meditation. My deep deep sense of empathy and ability to connect with all kinds of people. Yeah
YABC: How do you cope with criticism from editors or the public?
I try to welcome criticism if it’s delivered with respect. If not (and I don’t think I’ve gotten disrespectful criticism (yet)), I don’t think I’m able to see past rudeness. But criticism with the intent of making my writing better is ok by me. I have three children; I’m pretty tough 😊.
YABC: What new release book are you looking forward to in 2025?
My dear friend and fellow NYTimes Bestselling author, Anna Tubbs has a new book called Erased coming out very soon! She’s who’s next, and I’m lucky to have her as a thought partner as we experience the ups and downs of writing and getting published. I can’t wait to celebrate her!
YABC: What’s up next for you?
Well, in addition to writing, I love being creative in general. So I’ve partnered with my dear friend (and mama of 4!!), Maria Harleston, who has a jewelry collection. I admire her work so much and love seeing women pursue their dreams (especially after giving so much to their children). So what’s next for me is partnering with Maria on a special Eden’s Light line of jewelry. The line with include: The Inner Light necklace, The Guidance necklace (for mamas) , The Blue Cloud Cloth bracelet, and A Necklace of Stars. I love expressing myself through fashion and accessories, so I’m excited for this project and to wear my book and share a necklace with my Claude McKay so she, too, can always remember her Light. And to see all children wearing these necklaces as a reminders of their light.
Title: Eden’s Light
Author: Jessica McKay
Illustrator: Jestenia Southerland
Release Date: 4/8/2025
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Genre: Picture Book – Fiction
Age Range: 4-8
