Jackson was born in New York and grew up in Brooklyn Heights.[2] She states that she first started wanting to become a writer when she was four years old.[2]
Her second young adult novel, Monday's Not Coming, about a girl whose best friend mysteriously disappears, was published in 2018 by Katherine Tegen Books.[16]Monday's Not Coming received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.[17] It was inspired by numerous disappearances of black girls all across the United States, which eventually led to the creation of the hashtag #MissingDCGirls.[18][19] School Library Journal named Monday's Not Coming a best book of 2018.[20] In 2019, Jackson was awarded the John Steptoe Award for New Talent.[21]
Jackson's third novel, Let Me Hear a Rhyme, set in 1998, is about three teens from Brooklyn who turn their late friend into a rap star and was published by Katherine Tegen Books in 2019.[22] It debuted to favorable reviews from critics, receiving starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews,[23]Booklist,[24] and Publishers Weekly.[25]
Her fourth novel, Grown, about a teenage singer getting her big break in the music industry and being targeted by a predatory rock star, was published in September 2020, by Katherine Tegen Books. Jackson says while the allegations against R. Kelly[26] inspired the novel, Grown also tackles the history of abuse of power and participating in rape culture pervasive in the entertainment industry,[27] and how the systems in place specifically fail young Black women.[28] The novel debuted as #4 on the Young Adult Hardcover New York Times bestseller list.[4] It was also a nominee for the Goodreads Choice Award in Young Adult fiction in 2020.[29]
Jackson's sixth novel and her horror debut, White Smoke (2021), about a teen moving into a haunted house, was published by Katherine Tegen Books in September 2021.[30] She says the story was inspired by a trip to Detroit and a haunted house case in Japan she read about.[31] The novel debuted on the Young Adult Hardcover New York Times bestseller list, at #6.[32]
In February 2020, it was announced that Jackson's debut picture book Santa in the City, about a girl determined to prove that Santa is real, sold in a five-house auction. It was published by Dial in November 2021 with illustrations by Reggie Brown.[33][34]
Jackson's second picture book, Trick-or-Treating in the City, was published by Dial in August 2024 with illustrations by Sawyer Cloud.[35]
