Dear Nobody (American) [Hardcover]

Berlie Doherty (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1992 | Age Level: 11 and up

Helen and Chris are in their last year at school when Helen discovers that she is pregnant. Faced suddenly with the frightening possibilities of parenthood, they each try in their own way to understand their own parents. For Helen and Chris, the hardest thing to face is the unknown landscape of their future, together or apart.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Winner of England's Carnegie Medal, this complex and often unwieldy novel explores the consequences of a teenager's pregnancy-and the resultant tensions with her boyfriend. Brilliant, ambitious and university bound, Helen first attempts to induce a miscarriage and then, in a complete about-face, resolves to go through with her pregnancy and raise her child. Both characters are foreed to sort out their priorities, as the full meaning of Helen's condition dawns on them. Of course, their predicament affects not only themselves, but their families as well: as the months go by, Helen learns the real reasons for her mother's bitter anger towards the unborn child. Meanwhile, as Chris grapples with his new status as a future parent, he must also create a new relationship with his mother, who left the family years ago. Though certainly ambitious, Doherty's latest work lacks the pungent force of her White Peak Farm and Granny Was a Buffer Girl. The reader's patience will be especially tried by the book's middle section, a lengthy account of the ups and downs of Chris and Helen's post-pregnancy relationship. Still, those who persevere will be rewarded by a conclusion in which various loose ends are tied up in a surprisingly moving fashion. Ages 11-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7-10-- Told as a flashback, in some of the loveliest, most lyrical prose to be found in YA fiction, Helen and Chris narrate the consequences of one night's unprotected passion that changes the course of their lives forever. With teen parenthood superimposing itself upon college plans, both give voice to disbelief, confusion, and fear. Chris wants them to marry; Helen's mother wants the young woman to have an abortion. When an attempt to miscarry fails, Helen accedes to her mother's pressure. But alone at the abortion clinic, she can't go through with it, and returns home to have and keep her baby. Although Helen loves Chris, she writes, ``I'm not ready for forever. I'm not ready for him, and he's not ready for me.'' Her painful choice is to break up even though she loves him. His bitter reality is exclusion from her pregnancy and life and, by extension, the life of his unborn child. Doherty adroitly explores the intricacies of love and all its twisting complications through the lives of fully fleshed-out, believable teen and adult characters in this compelling novel. While the changing voices (Chris's perspective alternates with letters that Helen writes to ``Dear Nobody,'' her unborn child) are occasionally confusing, the book's raw emotion propels readers toward Chris's reunion with Helen at the hospital and to his first view of his daughter, who shocks him with her vulnerability and importance. His final realization is the book's heart and message--`` `I'm not ready for you, or for her. I'm not yet ready for myself.' '' --Alice Casey Smith, Chappaqua Library, NY
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Hardcover: 185 pages
• Publisher: Orchard Books (NY) (September 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531054616
• ISBN-13: 978-0531054611
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,108,861 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A true story..., May 28, 2003

By 

http://www.superludi.de (Trier, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dear Nobody (Hardcover)

The book contains the authentic story of Chris and Helen, two teenagers experiencing the love between them. When Helen realizes that she is pregnant, she has a difficult decision to take: her mother wants her to terminate the pregnancy, Helen would like to go to music college and Chris wants her to give birth to the "little Nobody" like Helen uses to call him in her letters. These "Dear Nobody" letters and Chris'honest and emotional descriptions of the happenings,his ambivalent feelings and the changing relationship to Helen take turns. This fact let the reader have a closer look on both trains of thought, male and female: Chris'point of view and Helen's inner conflict; that's why I prefer "Dear Nobody". I never read such a book before and it is the first one in which a male main character illustrates so frankly how he feels and who is so overwhelmed by the occurences Berlie Doherty's novel deals with.
[...]Throughout the book Helen writes letters to her unborn baby about her most personal thought. This book to me gives a great perspective of a teenage girl, going through very confusing issues and how she deals with the changes her body is going through. The author does a termendous job of stating realistic facts. The novel is always leaving you wondering what is going to happen next.Helen and Chris narrate the consequences of one night's unprotected passion that changes the course of their lives forever. With teen parenthood superimposing itself upon college plans, both give voice to disbelief, confusion, and fear. [...]. I think the book is very interesting, but it is not written for 16 years old children. The view, how the story is written by Berlie Doherty is very good to describe the feelings of Helen and Chris, but I like it more, when the story is told from the 3rd person !

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining book about problems of today's youth!!, May 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Dear Nobody (Hardcover)

Book Review: Berlie Doherty „Dear Nobody"

The book deals with the (sometimes tragic) story of two 18-year old teenagers: Helen, who gets pregnant, and her boyfriend Chris, also the father of her unborn child. The unwanted pregnancy brings about all the troubles that both now have to face, for unfortunately they want to study at two different universities. So now their plans for the future seem to be made in vain. Additionally both teenagers have problems with their parents: [...]The book is written in a style typically for today's youth, and if you're a teenager yourself, you can easily identify with the problems described in the book, either because some of the situations mirror your own life and it may help you to get on with it, or just because you want good entertainment. I would recommend it especially to young people, because the book really deals with the current problems of today's youth.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dear Nobody, March 11, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Dear Nobody (Paperback)

"Dear Nobody," Helen's letters start. You may ask, "who is Nobody?" or "Why is this Helen girl writing to someone who doesn't exist?" The answer is that Nobody is 18 year old Helen Garton's baby, growing inside her. Nobody is Chris' baby too, and so when Helen breaks their relationship saying, "I just need some time to figure everything out" he is furious. This just adds to Chris' list of problems of passing his exams, finding and talking to his ex-mother, and making his desions about college. Helen also has many probems to deal with, like college, exams, abortion, and regaining her mother's friendship and love. Find out how Helen & Chris figure their complicated lives out by reading "Dear Nobody", a **** out of ***** star book.