What Kind of Love? [Hardcover]

Sheila Cole (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 28, 1995

Recording her experiences in her diary, teenager Valerie Larch talks about her family, friends, dreams for a music career, special new boyfriend, and the pregnancy that changes her life and presents difficult choices.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Presented as entries in a diary, Cole's (The Dragon in the Cliff) novel focuses on the predicament of the mostly wholesome Valerie, who gets pregnant the very first time she has intercourse (she repents of her sex life, incidentally, even before she realizes she's pregnant). After a couple of months of worry and denial, the teenager faces up to her condition. She and her boyfriend, Peter, investigate the possibility of abortion, but quickly decide to marry and raise the baby together. Peter's father, however, exiles him to a boarding school, and Valerie's parents, meanwhile, encourage her to put the baby up for adoption. Cole assembles an impressive array of solid information. Quite often, these facts come adroitly camouflaged: the issue of childproofing a house, for example, is tackled in the context of a classroom discussion that Valerie cites to prove how tiresome the teacher is ("How these discussions are supposed to teach us anything is beyond me," Valerie concludes). But despite the profusion of down-to-earth details, the unswerving, didactic agenda prevents the novel from becoming as intensely personal as many works on this subject, e.g., Berlie Doherty's Dear Nobody. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up?Valerie Larch, 15, is pregnant. By the time she visits Planned Parenthood, an abortion is not an easy option. Both sets of parents are against her marrying Peter, and, to keep them apart, the young man is sent to live with his father in Santa Barbara. This six-month excerpt from the young woman's diary reflects her thoughts and feelings from suspecting the pregnancy to setting up an appointment with an adoption agency. Cole's research and proven writing ability combine to create characters and a plot credible enough to hold readers' interest. By limiting the book to only a part of Valerie's story, the author leaves readers wondering whether or not she will go through with the adoption and what her life will be like if she doesn't, effectively causing them to relate to her dilemma and to ponder the consequences of her decision.?Dona Weisman, Northeast Texas Library System, Garland
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (April 28, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688128483
• ISBN-13: 978-0688128487
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,800,609 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT BOOK TO READ!!!!, February 26, 2004

By 

"resaloshiro" (Downey, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Kind of Love? The Diary of a Pregnant Teenager (Paperback)

It's a great book to read for a teenager. It teaches you to about the consequences of not using protection. I guess that the book caught my attention because I wondered what would happen if I were in that position. The author's writing style makes you want to keep reading the book and look for more of her books. I give it five starts because it was interesting, exciting and kind of sad.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A diary of a pregnant girl who thinks she's in love, November 4, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: What Kind of Love? The Diary of a Pregnant Teenager (Paperback)

What Kind of Love?, written by Sheila Cole, is a diary about two people in love with each other. Valerie falls in love with Peter, and she thinks Peter loves her too. Then Valerie notices that she has not had her period for three months so she decides to try a home pragnancy tester. Valerie, fifteen,is now well aware that she is pragnant. Peter purposes and they together try to get married. Both of their parents think it is an outragous idea. Peter's parents forced him to go to Los Angeles to graduate. Will Valerie get married and give birth to a baby at age fifteen? How will their strict parents take the idea of them getting married and having a baby? Well, I guess you will just have to read the book to find out what happens! I loved reading this book because it had a page or two of entries. It was nice cause you would be less likely to stop in the middle of a chapter, when with this book, you wouldn't have that much more to read. I thought it was a nice change. I hope I gave you enough motvation to read this terrific book. The reason why I gave it 4 stars is because I didn't like the ending. Although, that is just my opinion, you might love the ending. Thank you for spending your time reading my review!
~Marissa's BMS Literary Corner~

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 15 year old girl finds herself pregnent., February 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: What Kind of Love? The Diary of a Pregnant Teenager (Paperback)

This story Valerie, who had a sexual encounter and finds herself pregnent at the age of 15, if a wonderfully written story that tells the hardships that teens go through and what obstacles they have to overcome in life. I loved it!