Coretta Scott King Award
By Angela Johnson
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
New York
2003
ISBN 0689849222
Ages: Young Adult
The story is about a young teenage couple who learn that the girlfriend, Nia, is pregnant. The then chapters cover the story leading up to the birth of the baby; the now chapters cover the story of Bobby after the baby. It is a little hard to follow for a while-- switching back and forth between chapters and time frames, but eventually it starts to make sense. Readers know from the beginning that Bobby has custody of his baby girl, Feather, but they don't know why because the then chapters show the issue of the baby heading in another direction-- adoption and the promise of the teenagers' lives getting back to normal. It is not revealed until the end of the story why Bobby has the baby.
Johnson shows just how tough it is for a young person to be taking care of a newborn, but what's really unusual in this story is that the young man is keeping and raising the baby. One rarely hears that these days. I was disappointed at the lack of support by the grandparents-- they were making the young man take care of this baby on his own, even though he still lived with his mother. He was getting so little sleep, and still trying to go to school and take care of Feather. Bobby was making common parenting mistakes about holding the baby too much, which kept him from resting, and nobody told him any different. I'm a fairly new grandmother, and if this situation had happened with one of my children, I would've moved mountains to help them with that grandbaby so they could get on with their schooling and preparation for supporting themselves and that child. That doesn't mean helping to the point that no lessons were learned or that it erases or excuses my child's mistakes, that's what loving families do-- support each other. And it's a good investment on their future and the future of one's grandchildren. In the story, Bobby's dad eventually is helpful, but that didn't come for a while.
I think Johnson painted a realistic picture of the difficulties of a teen pregnancy and how it changes lives in drastic ways. I admire Bobby's decision to raise his baby girl, and he has a tough road ahead of him. I would hope that his parents provide more support for him or it's going to be hard for him to make it.
The book was a quick read, but it wasn't smooth. It wasn't necessarily an easy or enjoyable read, either, but I think it covers a realistic and important topic that young people should be exposed to today.