Genre 6 Book 2 – Fiction, Fantasy and Young Adult

1. Bibliography
Johnson, Angela. 2003. THE FIRST PART LAST. New York: Simon Pulse.
ISBN 068984923

2. Plot Summary
THE FIRST PART LAST is an interesting novel about teenage pregnancy and fatherhood. Bobby is your typical sixteen year old boy growing up in the city. This all changes when his girlfriend, Nia, announces her pregnancy. School and parties with friends are replaced with doctor and social worker visits. What once seemed important, no longer matters. Should they keep the baby or give it up for adoption? Bobby and Nia are faced with many choices as they face the impending birth of their child.

3. Critical Analysis
Angela Johnson has created a novel about teenage pregnancy written from the teenage father’s point of few. The short chapters alternating between the then and now adds mystery. The chapters titled “Then” are written during the time of the pregnancy while “Now” is in present time with Bobby caring for the baby, Feather. The reader is taken through a journey where Bobby struggles between being a child himself and becoming a parent.

Bobby and Nia are typical of teenagers growing up in urban New York City. For example, for his sixteenth birthday Bobby goes to the movies and then to his father’s restaurant for some cheese fries and ribs. So typical, only to end that day being told that his girlfriend is pregnant…so powerful. Also, the language and slang is also characteristic of teenagers creating a true picture.

Johnson authors a genuine book on teenage pregnancy. Included are the feelings the teenagers experience as well as their parents. For example Bobby tries to comfort Nia, and her reply is “Are you having this damned baby, Bobby?” (28) Also, the twist of alternating chapters has the reader guessing why Bobby is raising the child on this own. Complications related to pregnancy are revealed at the end solving the mystery and creating a tragedy the reader really doesn’t suspect. Told with a roller coaster of emotion, this fast reading novel will keep readers enthralled.

4. Review Excerpt(s)
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Grade 8 Up-Brief, poetic, and absolutely riveting…”
BOOKLIST: “Johnson makes poetry with the simplest words in short, spare sentences that teens will read again and again.”

5. Connections
THE FIRST PART LAST is an excellent read for junior high or high school students. It provides a great dose of reality. So many students think it can’t happen to them…it can. Also, the revelation of what happens to Nia can kick off a discussion on pregnancy complications for health class.
Other books dealing with sensitive teenage issues are Sharon N. Drapers TEARS OF A TIGER, Laurie Halse Anderson’s SPEAK, and Sharon Flakes WHO AM I WITHOUT HIM.
Other books by Angela Anderson are LOOKING FOR RED and HEAVEN.