From School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up--Seven young mothers describe the reality of their lives before and since the birth of their babies. None of them have maintained a relationship with their child's father. They all voice regret for lost youth and forgone opportunities. Many of them don't expect their children's lives to be much different from their own. Some of them indicate that they don't believe in the future at all. These stories reap caution upon caution on readers in a lecturing and remorseful tone. The book provides many facts about adolescents in America and seeks to give teenagers the benefit of the experiences of others, but misses the point made so well in one of the narratives: "Adults need to try to understand what kids are going through....You have to try to put yourself in their place and really talk to them." The teens this book might have reached aren't yet ready to listen and it is unlikely that they will see themselves in these stories. Teens that are in this position already know what it's like. Black-and-white and color photos appear throughout and a list of organizations is appended. Susan Kuklin's What Do I Do Now? (Putnam, 1991) and Jane Hammerslough's Everything You Need to Know about Teenage Motherhood (Rosen, 1995) are better titles on this topic.
Melissa Gross, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
