The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

My mom says that I didn't sleep through the night until I was eight years old.

Bobby becomes a teenage father and events lead to his full custody of his daughter. The story flashes back between Bobby's life before the birth and after. It is a realistic account of what it is like to be the sole parent at age 16 of an infant.

Excellent book. It is short but effective in getting the point across - having a baby at age 16 is hard!

Johnson, A. (2003). The first part last. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Adults.
ISBN: 0689849222
131 pages

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher

My dad left when I still had a month to go in the darkroom, and historically when people have tried to figure me out (as in, "What went wrong?"), they usually conclude that Mom spoiled me; gave me everything I wanted because I had no pappy.

Eric and Sarah were close friends growing up uniting in their differences but as Eric began to change, the friends grow apart. However, when Sarah needs him, Eric fights for her proving their friendship is as strong as ever. Strong opinions on God, abortion, organized religion, and suicide are weaved into the story. Friendship, love, self-acceptance and abuse are themes found in this story.

I love this book! The characters, situations and dialogue are drawn from real life. I will read more of Chris Crutcher's books.

Crutcher, C. (1993). Staying fat for sarah byrnes. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.
ISBN: 0668115527
216 pages

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

It is my first morning of high school.

Melinda Sordino begins her freshmen year of high school an outcast and she drops clues throughout her story as to why. She struggles through this year coming to terms to what happened, healing and learning to speak for herself again at the close of this story. Themes of violence, self esteem, healing, rape and alienation

This story uses the first person narrative effectively to demonstrate the pain Melinda feels. I can't imagine her pain would have been so real had the story been told from the typical omniscient third party. Excellent story.

Anderson, L.H. (1999). Speak. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux.
ISBN: 0374371520
198 pages