By: Angela Johnson
This book is
about Bobby. He is a 16 year old, African American boy living in New York
City. He and his girlfriend, Nia, find out they are having a baby.
They decided to put the baby up for adoption but Nia becomes ill while
giving birth and Bobby decides to keep the baby girl, Feather. The book
depicts Bobby’s struggles with single, teenage parenthood. He does have supportive friends and his
parents are there for him as well.
The book is
formatted uniquely – oscillating between chapters of ‘then’ and ‘now’. It gives insight into the struggles of family
life, parenting, grief, and the difficulties that teenagers face. There is language throughout the book which
you might want to discuss with parents first.
I think this book would be a better book for high schoolers, though
eighth graders might be able to handle it.
It’s kind of a heavy book because of all the issues it deals with but in
an inner city school these issues are pertinent. I’m not sure I would recommend it as class
reading but for independent reading it would be good. Especially if the teacher made sure the
students knew that she was available to talk to.
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