41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Barbara Delinsky's latest novel reminds this reviewer just how powerful a story --- even a fictional one --- can be, January 11, 2010
NOT MY DAUGHTER is a riveting story that confronts a subculture of teenage girls and their pact to become pregnant. Barbara Delinsky's tale is set in Zaganack, a small coastal town in Maine that serves as a microcosm of the social, political, economic and cultural landscape of our times. A company town for an upscale retailer, Zaganack is an old township of family ties and deep communal relations, and its values are reflected in that understanding. But this town will be challenged by the age-old question: What makes someone a "good mother?"
Susan, Kate, Sunny and Pam have been friends for a long time. As part-time co-workers, they even created PC Wool, a subdivision of the local retailer specializing in dyed wools, designs and patterns. Just as the mothers are close to one another, so are their four daughters, Lily, Mary Kate, Jess and Abby. The girls are all intelligent, popular and outstanding high school seniors whose mothers are anticipating them going forward with their education when they graduate.
At a mother-daughter evening out, Lily announces to her mother that she is pregnant. Susan, who became a single parent as a teen, is confounded by the news. She also learns that Lily is not the only one expecting --- Mary Kate and Jess are as well. Susan informs Lily's father, Rick, who has always been part of their lives but upon hearing this news decides to become more involved. When it is discovered that there has been a pact between the girls to become pregnant, the characters of each of the mothers and their relationships with their daughters are brought into question. How could this have happened to their smart and wonderful children?
For Susan, the high school principal, Lily's pregnancy has unintended consequences. Susan is faced with defending herself as both mother and principal as she too was an unmarried teenage mother. Her core principles are put to the test as she is criticized for being an unconvincing role model. Some parents and others question if this is history repeating itself.
As the town, school and businesses try to figure out the why, where and who surrounding the pregnancy pact, there are increasing calls for Susan's resignation. Will she keep her job? What about the girl's lives, their friendships and their babies? Is marriage something for all of them to consider? Each mother and daughter must evaluate their bond to one another and the new lives growing inside the young women.
Barbara Delinsky's latest novel reminds this reviewer just how powerful a story --- even a fictional one --- can be. She has captured through her characters and their difficulties some of the social and cultural fabric of our times. This tale reflects the struggles that teen pregnancy creates for the mother-daughter bond, female and family relationships, and their professional and community lives. Delinsky's characters are like friends you might know, and with her uncanny ability to tell a story, you won't be able to wait to turn the page.
With realistic dialogue, credible characters and defining values, NOT MY DAUGHTER is one worth bringing to your book club or using in a discussion with family and friends.
--- Reviewed by Jennifer McCord
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37 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Immature and awful, January 30, 2010
I couldn't make it through. It sounds like it was written from the point of view of a 6th grader. Three best friends DECIDE they want to intentionally get pregnant and all three then announce it to their parents as if they just won the elementary school spelling bee and they're SHOCKED that their parents are unhappy. But the kicker is, the parents act like their daughters just lost an elementary school spelling bee and instead of treating it like what it is -- three extremely selfish, manipulative, shallow, and irresponsible girls taking it upon themselves to ruin their own lives, the lives of the men they so casually slept with, and the lives of the poor innocent children they're about to bore -- they end up bellyaching for page after page about what this all means and what ever will become of their reputations, their jobs, what people will think.
I'm sorry, but these parents should have been beyond LIVID at what these girls did. I'm never in favor of parents disowning their children, but come on! What parent in his or her right mind would be so cavalier about this? No screaming? No "who the hell raised you?" No "I didn't raise a young woman so selfish and self-involved as this"? None of that? It was more of a "well, what can I do now?" kind of attitude. I found it hard to swallow.
The dialogue was hard to get, frankly, but even more disappointing was the relationships. I expected a true mother/daughter story with strong emotions and scenes I could visualize in my mind. Instead, half the book was about the girls with their heads in the clouds and the other half was the mothers trying to cover it up with ridiculous dilemmas like "should I out the other girls or should I not?"
Anyway, I was disappointed in what I got.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
predictable, a modern harlequin romance, February 2, 2010
I purchased this book based on the many 4 & 5 stars rating and this was the first time that I have read anything from this author. To put it bluntly - this book was awful. The story is unrealistic, has a total pro-life approach ( which is fine but come on lets be realistic and not so in your face ) and was so sappy, predictable that I finished it only because I had purchased it for my kindle and gave it the benefit of the doubt that it MIGHT get better but - it didn't. It reminded me of a teen soap opera.
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