(2) YA The year is 2005, and high school students Mina, Penney, and Sheryl are looking forward to prom night as an opportunity to dress up, dance, and have fun with their friends. Of course, there are also their dates: Penney's long-term boyfriend, Mina's boyfriend of convenience, and Sheryl's cute classmate. While their experiences that night are vastly different, they wind up at the same Planned Parenthood office having received the same news: they are all pregnant. Their decisions to continue the pregnancies form an unexpected alliance among the three, with Mina, Penney, and Sheryl vowing to look after one another and their families. Eighteen years later, their children are preparing for their prom night, with complex issues of their own. Blossom is trying to figure out how far she should go with her boyfriend. While Amber has consented to attend with her girlfriend, she still takes issue with the gender-biased nature of the prom rules -- and decides to address it on a school-wide level. Cole discovers a family secret while attempting to navigate his own problematic ideas about consent. The book, which alternates among all these characters and between the two time periods, considers issues of women's rights, misogyny, classism, and more from multiple viewpoints. There are no easy resolutions to any of these topics, but Magoon's empathetic, sometimes humorous style will leave readers with a sense of empowerment to form their own views. Appended "reflections and resources" address the state of contemporary reproductive rights in the U.S.

Reviewer: Eboni Njoku | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2024

(2) YA This unconventional teen-pregnancy tale follows sixteen-year-old Ben, who had sex with his friend Maxie "as a scientific test." He wanted to confirm that he was gay; she was participating in "some kind of TikTok social experiment thing. " Now Maxie is pregnant. Influenced by her parents, she plans to pursue adoption. But Ben wants to keep the baby himself; he hopes to provide his child with the stable male presence he didn't have (his mother recently married her third husband since Ben's father died). Ben gets a job and prioritizes Maxie's doctor's appointments over his beloved robotics club. But is he really prepared for fatherhood? Ben's desire to do the right thing is endearing, although his naiveté in identifying what that means is both exasperating and comical (why wouldn't Maxie want to hear his opinions about prenatal meal planning?). Luckily, Ben has a supportive network to lean on, including his mom; his new stepfather (whom he is learning to trust); and Gio, his crush. They guide Ben to consider what it means to be a good parent and what's really best for his and Maxie's baby. The (convenient) answer leads to a moving conclusion in which Ben displays his newfound emotional maturity and relationship skills--the romance with Gio is a highlight--and finds peace with the decision he and Maxie make. "I know without any doubt...that I've made the right choice. This is right. This is family."

Reviewer: Rachel L. Kerns | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

(1) YA High school senior Emoni Santiago (an aspiring chef) and her two-year-old daughter live with Emoni's abuela. Emoni signs up for a culinary arts class that culminates in a trip to Spain--and she begins to see a path forward, if only she dares follow it. Acevedo creates beautifully realized characters with complex lives. A few recipes (such as "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemon Verbena Tembleque") are interspersed.

Reviewer: Christina L. Dobbs | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(3) YA During sophomore year, Dia, Hanna, and Jules were best friends and bandmates, yet alcoholism, pregnancy, and a death caused the trio's friendship to fall apart. After graduation, the girls piece back together their friendship to compete in a band talent contest. Chapters alternate among the girls' points of view, showing how each comes into her own in this heart-filled new-adult novel about the value of friendship.

Reviewer: Julie Hakim Azzam

(3) 4-6 In this well-paced story, sixth grader Cassie feels "invisible" after her family's attention turns to her teenage sister, Julia, and her baby. No one cares about Cassie's grades or that her friendships are changing; no one comes to her swim meets. Frustrated, she heads off on a road trip with Julia and baby Addie, which gives sympathetic protagonist Cassie the courage to assert herself.

Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano

(4) YA Field Party series. After Riley was raped by a wealthy football star, then shamed and shunned, the fifteen-year-old fled conservative Lawton, Alabama. Now Riley is back--with fifteen-month-old daughter Bryony--and she slowly develops a relationship with senior quarterback Brady, who initially doubted the rape. Told through Riley's and Brady's alternating first-person accounts, this third novel set in football-crazy Lawton reads like a predictable soap opera.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(3) YA At seventeen, Tim is told--by a girl he barely remembers, accompanied by an infant that looks just like him--that he's a dad. Eager to do the right thing, Tim shares parental responsibilities, which interrupts his burgeoning relationship with Alice Garrett. This companion novel to My Life Next Door is a treat for fans: sharply observed, nuanced, and romantic.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(4) YA Ever-Expanding Universe series. In the trilogy's conclusion, Elvie searches for her kidnapped infant daughter, Olivia. There's also the secondary goal of saving the world: Elvie and her friends fight some epic battles against aliens on Earth, aboard spaceships, and on Mars. The action is nonstop--and sometimes hard to follow--but as in the book's predecessors, Elvie's snark keeps her adventures entertaining.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(2) YA Jack's new foster brother, Joseph, has a troubled past. The fourteen-year-old attacked a teacher, was subsequently incarcerated, and has a baby daughter whom he's never seen. Jack (a sixth grader) and his parents gradually peel away Joseph's cold veneer, but Joseph's single-minded desire to parent his daughter leads to strife. The heartbreak unfolds organically and--in an impressive show of authorial restraint--succinctly.

Reviewer: Sam Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2015

(2) YA Sixteen-year-old Paul takes a summer job at a Harlem soup kitchen, run by eighty-four-year-old Elijah, who insists Paul contemplate social contract theory. Paul is also mentoring seventeen-year-old single-mom Keisha, determined to build a future for herself through basketball. Readers will be persuaded by Myers's main argument--that you can't hope to improve the system unless you engage with it.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2012

(3) YA Photographs by Mia Baxter. In this aesthetically rudimentary but effective biography of the pseudonymous Ana, an HIV-positive Latin American teen mother, President Bush's daughter has the good sense to let the story speak for itself. The writing is relentlessly declarative but sincere, and frequent chapter breaks and lots of scene-setting photographs relieve its monotony. Extensive appended material includes resources for help with HIV and abuse. Websites.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2007

(3) YA Translated by Bertha Ruiz de la Concha. Photographs by Mia Baxter. Bush tells the story of Ana, an HIV-positive teen she met while working in Latin America for UNICEF. Ana's tale is related in a very straightforward way without much style, also evident in the Spanish translation. Many photographs help break up the text. Copious appended information about HIV and abuse is useful. Websites.

Reviewer: Tim Wadham

(3) YA Tony Hawk–worshipping British fifteen-year-old Sam--himself the offspring of teenage parents--is about to become a father. Sam's stream-of-consciousness narration moves between bewilderment, panic, and older-than-his-years observation. He also occasionally, unsettlingly time-travels into the future, foreshadowing some convincingly awkward parenting skills. Hornby brings his particular blend of humor and pathos, tinged with socio-economic awareness, to his first young-adult novel.

Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz

(2) YA After her mother's death and a pregnancy at twelve, China Cup Cameron is now thrown the worst tragedy imaginable: the sudden death of her two-year-old daughter. China responds by shutting down emotionally--a credible response to grief that unfortunately distances the reader as well. Nevertheless, readers will be drawn in by the portraits of strong individuals working hard to re-shape their lives.

Reviewer: Lauren Adams | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2005

(4) YA Gallup Youth Survey: Major Issues and Trends series. This series uses information gathered through Gallup polls as the focus of discussion. While the polls and graphs make for easy reading, the text lacks real substance or analysis of the poll results. Chapters cover views and practices on many related issues including abortion, contraception, and rape. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Maeve Visser Knoth

(3) YA At a party, gorgeous but hollow Gabe meets Helen, who has a "damaged face" but an "electrifying" smile, and a baby results. Wild's moving free-verse novel uses multiple voices to tell the teens' ultimately redemptive story and to narrate the parallel personal crises of family members and friends.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann

(2) YA Before Mahalia was born, seventeen-year-old Matt and his girlfriend Emmy defended their decision to keep the baby, telling Emmy's parents, "We'll just love it, okay?" Five and a half months later, Matt is struggling to care for Mahalia alone after Emmy gives up and leaves town. Horniman poignantly conveys Matt's love for his baby, his longing for Emmy's companionship, and his frustration with being an unemployed single father.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2003

(2) YA Sixteen-year-old Bobby and his girlfriend, Nia, had planned to put their baby, Feather, up for adoption, but Feather becomes impossible to relinquish after, as the reader learns at book's end, pregnancy-related eclampsia leaves Nia in an irreversible coma. What resonate in this prequel to the Coretta Scott King Award-winning Heaven are the sacrifices Bobby makes for Feather's sake.

Reviewer: Nell Beram | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2003

(3) YA Focus on Family Matters series. This series is dedicated to the notion that "while [teens] cannot undo the bad things that... happen, they have the power to shape their own futures." The authors avoid easy platitudes, preferring to confront difficult subjects with the help of staged but frequently artistic color photos and short, memorable profiles of presumably real teens grappling with the issues at hand. There are six other books in this series. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) YA Sam, a single teenage father, stumbles through the fog of new parenthood, determined to take responsibility for his infant son, Max. Bechard effectively conveys Sam's perspective, neither sugarcoating his bond with Max nor using him as a "poster child for the dangers of teenage sex." A brief epilogue hints that everything works out for the best; still, it doesn't negate Sam's bravery when he ultimately decides to give Max up for adoption.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2002