Hanging on to Max (Paperback)

by Margaret Bechard (Author) "THE TOTAL SILENCE WOKE me up..." (more)
Key Phrases: diaper bag, Claire Bailey, Taco Bell, Sam Pettigrew (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Between the midnight feedings and the diaper issue, it's never easy being a new parent. But when you're also a high-school student trying to graduate, the job becomes even more overwhelming. Sam Pettigrew never dreamed he'd spend his senior year pushing a stroller. But when his former girlfriend, Brittany, decided that she couldn't handle being a parent, Sam knew he had to try. Now attending an alternative high school that provides daycare, Sam desperately juggles homework and parenting duties. "The list above my desk said, 'Get Max to sleep by 9:00.' Right under 'Drink out of a cup' and 'nap schedule.' I couldn't even remember what 'nap schedule' meant. " Sam's biggest problem is his lack of support: Brittany has left town to start over, and Sam's widowed father, angry over Sam's decision, refuses to help Sam other than financially. Claire Bailey, another teen parent, only serves to show Sam how alone he is--her family loves to babysit and buy toys for her baby, Emily. Finally, after a disastrous night spent in the emergency room when Max cuts his hand, Sam becomes defeated. How much longer can he keep up this crazy schedule of school and fatherhood? Yet, how can he bear not to keep it up, when giving it up means giving up Max?

With this kind of subject matter, it would be easy for seasoned author Margaret Bechard to slip into didactic "after-school special" mode. Instead she has penned a truly tender, reversed-gender tearjerker with an ending as realistic as it is heartbreaking. A four-hankie recommended read. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly
Sam, a 17-year-old unwed father, is the candid, unusually likable narrator of Bechard's (If It Doesn't Kill You) involving novel. A senior at an alternative high school that offers day care, Sam struggles to juggle his responsibilities as a parent and student. He and 11-month-old Max live with Sam's largely uncommunicative widowed father, who has agreed to support them until Sam graduates high school and takes a construction job. Sam finds much-needed companionship when Claire, whom he has quietly admired for years, shows up at his school with a baby of her own. Flashbacks effectively fill in the missing pieces of the story, recalling the evolution of Sam's relationship with Brittany, Max's mother; Claire's presence in his eight-grade English class; his mother's last days fighting cancer; a memorable childhood fishing expedition with his parents; his first glimpse of the newborn Max; and his resolve to keep the baby when Brittany decides to give him up for adoption. The teen's conflicted perceptions of his role as father, friend and son, as well as his future aspirations, are intermittently droll and wrenching. While the story has been told before, it comes across as unfailingly real; and even the surprise ending conforms to the lifelike atmosphere. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (December 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689862687
• ISBN-13: 978-0689862687
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #210,265 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Needed Novel, March 26, 2004

By	Allyn "pianogirl" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hanging Onto Max (Library Binding)

Sam Pettigrew is a senior in high school. And he has a baby. Yes-a baby. His girlfriend got pregnant the previous year, decided that she couldn't handle raising the baby, and Sam felt a need to raise his son. Now, Sam's going to an alternative high school and juggling classes, college hopes...and baby Max. The mix only gets tougher when he meets Claire, a fellow teenage parent who Sam definitely has feelings for. Yet no matter what happens, Sam is determined to prove to the world that he's not a stupid teenage guy and that he CAN hang on to Max.

Like I said, this is definitely a book that needed to be written and needs to be read. Many of us at some point or another have read the typical "pregnant teenage girl" novels and they certainly offer valuable perspectives. Yet it seems that we rarely come into contact with novels that explore a MALE's feelings about the issue. "Hanging Onto Max" definitely corrects this problem.

But "Hanging Onto Max" is more than just a mediocre novel with a rarely-done perspective- its main character is just as memorable as the content. I literally checked this book out from the library, read the first page, and raced through the novel until I finished it.

Sam is just that kind of a character. He is realistically "male" without being a stereotype, and his thoughts and words reverberate with a piercing, understated truth. Flashbacks of Sam's experiences with his girlfriend and of life "before" are also unusually well done. Through them, Bechard managed to perfectly capture Sam's previous experiences and thus allow the reader to understand his current situation better. As I read, I felt like Sam was really a person-he is one of those characters you literally feel a "warmth" and empathy toward. The writing is blunt, quick, and free of pretentious prose. This only makes Sam better.

Without a doubt, "Hanging Onto Max" succeeds at exploring one of the toughest issues. Not only is it from an intriguing male perspective, it deals with the issue of teen pregnancy with realism, empathy, and a fearlessness when it comes to exploring the gut-wrenching choices that those involved must make.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ann " hanging on to max" , December 5, 2005

By	Annie H. (Wauconda, IL) - See all my reviews

When I started reading this book " Hanging on to Max" I became intersted very quickly. At first I know it had to do with a baby. So I read the back of the book to find out more. After reading that I know I had to buy this book and start reading right away.
Hanging on to Max is about a young teen named Sam who has a girlfriend named Brittany. As the relationship moves on Brittany becomes pregant. After Brittany has her child, she then wants to give her child up for adoption. Sam feels that he can't give his child up, so works hard to take care of his son, Max, and tries his best to stay in school. Now Sam is raising his son on his own. So Sam gets his SAT scores back and since they are high scores Sam can go to college, but Sam has a big decision to back. Will Sam give up Max so he can go to college?
I believe that this book can relate to alot of teens who have a child and are raising their baby on their own.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life at its core., July 6, 2005

By	Wilibald - See all my reviews

17-year-old Sam has taken custody of his newborn son and with the help of his own father, is adjusting to fatherhood while trying to maintain life as a high school senior.

The novel explores the emotional rollercoasters teen parents might face without glorifying or simplifying it. This book is a refreshing one, not only for its teen male perspective, but for its lack of propaganda against teen sex.

Bechard acknowledges that teenagers have sex and become parents without adopting a scolding tone in what could have easily become a 200-page advertisement for abstinence. Instead, she depicts a realistic look at teenagers struggling to find themselves in their new roles as parents. They've become parents, a situation that cannot be reversed. What to do now? Only Sam can answer that question for himself and Max. This book takes you on the journey as Sam and his peers try to find their answers.

Since the book's core themes relate to daily life, not just teen parenting, the book is really for anyone who's ever struggled (or is currently struggling) with a sense of a lost identity. It made me think about who I am as a person, and how I came to be the way I am.