A Dance for Three [Hardcover]

Louise Plummer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 7, 2000

Hannah: Today, when Mama learns I'm pregnant, she doesn't ask about Milo.  What will Milo think?  She doesn't ask what I'm going to do about the baby, if I'm scared.  She doesn't say, What about high school?  She doesn't say, You're not old enough to drive yet.  She doesn't say, What can I do?

Trilby: My mom thinks I should go visit Hannah, and she calls the hospital about visiting hours, but Hannah can't see anyone. I'm relieved. I don't know what I'd say to her....My head fills with questions I don't dare ask her. What is it like to have sex? What is it like to be pregnant?

Roman: I know why I'm mad. I want to hold the baby too. I want to be his uncle. I seem to be the only one in the family who even wants to consider that he is our relation.  If only Hannah had fallen for me.  If only, if only.  Fat chance, next to Milo.

When she finds out she's pregnant at age fifteen, Hannah Ziebarth believes she'll be all right. She'll start a family with Milo, and the three of them will live happily ever after.

Then reality hits hard.

Louise Plummer tells Hannah's powerful story from three perspectives.  But from every angle, this is a tale of loss, recovery and self-discovery.


Trilby: "My mom thinks I should go visit Hannah, and she calls the hospital about visiting hours, but Hannah can't see anyone. I'm relieved. I don't know what I'd say to her. . . . What is it like to have sex? What is it like to be pregnant?"

Roman: "I know why I'm mad. I want to hold the baby too. I want to be his uncle."

When she finds out she's pregnant at age 15, Hannah Ziebarth believes she will be all right. She will start a family with Milo, and the three of them will live happily ever after. Then reality hits hard. -->

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Milo wasn't the first boy to kiss me but he was the first one to bite me."

He's also the first boy to slug her when she tells him she's going to have his baby. Hannah Ziebarth, 15, had felt loved by rich, good-looking Milo and his cool, elegant family, and as she leans on the dumpster in the alley bleeding on her dowdy Burger Bar uniform, she is in shocked denial. The pregnancy is only one of Hannah's troubles. Her beloved father has died suddenly from a freak accident, and her mother has retreated into agoraphobia; Hannah must care for her feeble and self-absorbed Mama just when she needs mothering herself. When she hides in Milo's car and overhears him having sex with his old girlfriend, her world finally collapses. A psychotic break lands her in a mental hospital for juveniles, and she begins the long step-by-step process of putting the pieces of her life back together with the help of a compassionate young therapist.

Louise Plummer, whose previous young adult novels have been sparkling romantic comedies (The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman), here gets serious in a warm and engrossing story that carries the teen-pregnancy novel to new heights beyond the usual clichés. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell

From Publishers Weekly

Sharply etched characters and varied narrators elevate Plummer's (The Unlikely Romance of Kate Bjorkman) tale of a pregnant, troubled 15-year-old girl well above the confines of a problem novel. Since Hannah Ziebarth's father died two years ago of a freak occurrence (asphyxiation after a burp), Hannah's mother has turned agoraphobic and increasingly helpless; Hannah has assumed full care of her. Discovering she is pregnant, Hannah is sure her boyfriend, Milo, will marry her, and she begins to imagine a happy future with Milo's family. But when she tells him, he brutally assaults her: " 'Whore!' he says. He rubs the blood off his fist and walks away." The stress overwhelms Hannah, landing her in an adolescent psychiatric ward. Hannah narrates much of the novel, but her best friend, Trilby, and Milo's brother, Roman, also have their say, filling in parts of the story Hannah cannot or will not see. There are some weaknesses (e.g., the author appears to take short cuts with both Hannah's breakdown and recovery), but Plummer's uncanny ability to project details and human idiosyncrasies onto her characters makes her enterprise a believable one. Hannah and the others seem to have lives beyond the page; they, even more than their struggles, are memorable. Ages 14-up. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (March 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385325118
• ISBN-13: 978-0385325110
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dance For Three, October 14, 2001

By 

Marie (Louisiana, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Dance for Three (Laurel-Leaf Books) (Mass Market Paperback)

Dance For Three by Louise Plummer was a fantastic book. The book started off slow, but it didn't take long before I developed a feeling of friendship and concern for this fifteen year old girl. Hannah and her boyfriend Milo find themselves in a situation. Hannah is pregnant. After telling Milo the news he denies it, hits her several times and leaves her abandoned in an alley. All of the problems that Hannah is having to face, such as the pregnancy, the death of her father, and the sickness of her mother causes her to be mentally unstable forcing a neighbor to commit her into a institution. Hannah struggles with the facts, but later realizes that things will work out if she begins coping with her problems rather than running away from them. She works hard with the help of her friends and the therapist to heal from all of the hurt that has built up inside of her. Finally, Hannah has able to put the pieces of her life back together and finds a new self identity and happiness. This novel is a great example of how a teen deals with the reality of a pregnancy. I would recommend it to anyone that can relate or simply just enjoys reading realistic fiction.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A dance for three, October 23, 2005

By 

G. Carrington "Brandi" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Dance for Three (Laurel-Leaf Books) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of the best books I've read. i thought it was really good. Louise Plummer really makes the characters come to life! when i heard about this book i really had to read it. Its about a 15 year old girl who gets pregnant and her boyfriend leaves her. It just tells about what happens. When your reading this book you really dont want to put it down. it has so much suspense. its a really great book. i usually dont read books all that fast but, i started to read this one and all i wanted to do was read. i never wanted to put it down. thats how good this book was for me. the characters in the book seem real and it makes you believe your actually there and everything. Ive never read any of her other books but i think i might just read another and see how good they are. since the girl is about my age it actually teaches you a lot about life. I think most people would like this book so you should maybe just try it out!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing story full of the truth that no one faces, July 7, 2001

By 

An 11-year old reader (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Dance for Three (Hardcover)

Not very many people face and recognize how many teenagers face pregnancy. But Plummer has told so trufully a story of one of the many teenagers that are told that they are pregnant. I read this book in two days because I couldn't put it down, not even to eat and sleep! I love how Plummer has told this story with not only two peoples point of views, but three. This book is truly amazing!