Where the Girls Were

Where the Girls Were by Kate Schatz (2026), 368 pages

It is late 1960s San Francisco and high schooler, soon to be Valedictorian, Elizabeth "Baker" finds herself pregnant. Obviously, this disrupts her whole future as she had planned to attend Stanford and then head to Paris. Against her will, she ends up in a home for pregnant women. There she explores the complicated situations that landed the other women there and what their futures might hold.

I am back and forth on this book. I think it covers some very important topics (such as women’s choice) that are still very prescient today. It delves into the limited options women had and the very real judgements they faced if they became "in the family way" - whether it was by choice or violence. It also touches upon the lack of knowledge women had about their bodies and the taboos older women had in sharing valuable information to younger women. That said, Baker's naiveté was almost to the point of unbelievableness. There were libraries back in the day. I wish more time had been spent with the interesting characters in the women's home and how the women's rights movement was progressing through San Francisco. The ending is pretty unbelievable, but, if you get a chance, I would still read it. 

Gabi, a Girl in Pieces

 Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero  294 pp.

Gabi Hernandez is a food loving, overweight, Mexican-American high school senior. In this book she chronicles her life during her senior year with all its joys, difficulties, and tragedies. Her best friends have their own crises, one getting pregnant and the other coming out as gay and getting kicked out by his parents. Through it all Gabi deals with her problems with a restrictive mother and a drug addicted father and her struggles with weight. Her one real joy is the poetry group one of the teachers starts. Through that she finds a real boyfriend and gets accepted to college at UC-Berkeley, her dream school. This story is very well written and really makes you care for the characters and their lives. This is one of the selections for my high school book club and I'm looking forward to discussing it with them.

Delphine Jones Takes a Chance

 

Delphine Jones Takes a Chance by Beth Morrey (2022) 318 pages

Delphine Jones is 28, stuck in a waitressing job with an awful boss, just trying to get enough money to support herself, her 12-year-old, crazy-smart daughter, and her father, who has been in deep mourning since his wife died 15 years ago. When Delphine gets fired from her job, she's paralyzed, not knowing what to do next. A couple things happen, opening doors to new people and possibilities: Her daughter Em has an amazing teacher whom Delphine meets, and then Em finds a help wanted sign for a cafe and lures her mother to the cafe to meet the owner. These events cascade into a series of opportunities‒and new relationships‒opening up for Delphine. Will she be able to break out of her fears and improve her lot?

I'd been waiting for another book by Morrey, whose first book, The Love Story of Missy Carmichael, became one of my favorites. To me, Delphine is every bit as good at detailing the intricacies of life and relationships as Missy Carmichael was. Really love the characters!

Pizza Girl

Pizza Girl / Jean Kyoung Frazier, read by Jeena Yi

Eighteen and pregnant doesn't sound all that great but what if you add a devoted boyfriend and a supportive mom?  None of it matters when the order comes in for a pizza with pepperoni and pickles.  Who wants this odd combo?  LA transplant Adam whose mom is trying to get him feeling better about his home.  The pizza place back in Ohio had a pickle pepperoni pizza.  Adam's mom Jenny, also new to the area starts a conversation when the pizza gets delivered.  Pizza girl shows us a confused teen who is unclear she is going the right direction.  Jenny may be the answer...or maybe not.  Quirky and enjoyable.

Red at the bone

Red at the bone / Jacqueline Woodson, 196 pgs.  Read by the author, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Peter Francis James, Shayna Small and Bahni Turpin.

Melody is a teen but also the age her mother, Iris, was when she had Melody.  She and her mother aren't close.  Iris went away to college and left Melody with her dad and grandparents.  Although this is the story of the individuals involved - including Melody's dad and the grand parents.  But also, it is an interesting view of teen pregnancy and the effects that linger. Woodson writes so well, even if this isn't your kind of story, you might enjoy reading it.  The audiobook is well done by a cast and Woodson herself.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky  213 pp.

This has been on my "to read" list for years and I finally did it. I'm sorry I waited so long. The story of sweet, sensitive, teen-age Charlie and his first year of high school as the not really popular younger brother to a football star and a class Salutatorian is told through letters he writes to a "friend". Charlie ends up befriended by some older kids and an understanding teacher who take him under their wings. There is all that "awful" stuff that teenagers do that they shouldn't; smoking, drinking, sex, drugs, etc. along with the usual crushes, unrequited love, bad relationships, and parental issues. This book has ended up on multiple "banned book" lists for portraying the teen years as they really are for many kids which just proves that many parents and other adults should "get a clue." Charlie is a wonderful character who navigates his life with honesty, compassion, and hope while dealing with his own demons.

The mothers

The mothers / Brit Bennett, 278 pgs.

The three main characters are Nadia, a brainy and beautiful seventeen year old whose mother just committed suicide, Aubrey, the "good girl" who volunteers extensively at the church and wears a purity ring, and Luke, the preacher's son who is not as good as his parents hope.  As teens, Nadia and Luke hook-up but the relationship is doomed by events.  Later, Luke and Aubrey discover each other and marry.  Nadia and Aubrey are best friends who keep in touch while Nadia is going through school but doesn't' know about the past between her husband and friend.  Time goes on and now as adults, these three are tossed into a situation together that results in pain for all of them.

I enjoyed the writing and the way the author builds her characters but part of me wanted someone featured here to be able to move on with their lives.

November Blues

November Blues by Sharon Draper, 316 pages
2008 Coretta Scott King Honor Book
2015 Edwards Award Winner

Still reeling from the aftermath of the disastrous Warriors of Distinction pledging, things get worse for November when she discovers that she's pregnant with Josh's baby. She feels like she's failed, especially after she tells her mother. She's definitely concerned about how Josh's family will react once the news gets out. And how is she going to handle the start of her senior year incredibly pregnant? Meanwhile, Jericho trades his beloved trumpet for a football, working out his pain through sweat and hard work. But he's determined to be there for November, no matter what.

Like The Battle of Jericho, November Blues deals with teen issues in a realistic way. The choices November faces aren't easy, and the decisions she makes don't magically make everything better. The ending seems a little overly theatrical, but that's okay for a YA book. Great for teens who are into contemporary YA that doesn't revolve completely around romance or overly gritty situations.

(Read as part of YALSA's Hub Reading Challenge.)

Gabi, a Girl in Pieces

Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero, 284 pages
A 2015 Morris Award Finalist

Gabi is having an interesting start to her senior year of high school: her best friend, Sebastian, has finally come out to his parents, only to find himself kicked out; her other best friend, Cindy, gets pregnant, joining the statistical ranks of Mexican teen moms; and her father, the meth addict, is back home again, claiming he'll get clean for good this time. Gabi, though, is determined to get through her senior year and get into college (and maybe find a boyfriend), all while supporting her friends and surviving her family (her secret stash of special beef jerky and other treats will certainly help with that). She finds solace in her poetry class and writing poetry, and in writing letters to her father that she knows he will probably never read.

This was one that I knew the most about going into the Morris finalists challenge, and the one I was most excited to read. I really enjoyed it. The soap opera that is Gabi's life is perfectly told through Gabi's rapid-fire diary entries, and while it sometimes felt like so much was going on that other issues fell by the wayside (the fallout from Sebastian's coming out kind of gets dropped towards the end), it still managed to hold my attention and keep me invested and interested in what would happen next. I also loved all of the issues Quintero played with through Gabi - there's the identity politics of looking too white for a Mexican, the traditional gender roles and fear of sex that her mother and aunt espouses (and Gabi obviously ignores), the fat-shaming she gets from her mother and from herself. But through it all, Gabi's deep-rooted confidence manages to get her through, even when she thinks it can't. It's a great book, one that's bound to stick with you for awhile after you finish.

(Read as part of YALSA's Morris/Nonfiction Challenge.)

Salvage the Bones

Salvage the Bones by Jessmyn Ward

I read this for February's book discussion, which I ended up missing in order to attend a Trolley meeting. 2011's National Book Award winner starts out quiet and slow, but builds to a big, strong finish. 15 year-old Esch, motherless, lives in Bois Sauvage, Mississippi. The story revolves around her, her family, their place, her brother Skeeter's dogs, and the impending storm. It is a thoughtful, violent, and beautiful piece of work. One of my favorite books in the last couple of years.

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One Last Thing Before I Go

One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathan Tropper  324 pp.

Drew Silver is a man who has screwed up his life almost beyond redemption. His fifteen minutes of fame came as the drummer of a one-hit wonder rock band years before. He is now divorced from his wife and barely knows his daughter, living in an apartment building that is pretty much full of lonely divorced men. He makes his living playing in wedding bands. When his Princeton bound daughter, Casey, confides in him that she is pregnant from her one and only sexual encounter, Silver's world turns sideways. Shortly after that he learns that he has a life-threatening heart condition that requires surgery which he refuses to have. He truly believes that his messed up life is not worth saving. Silver spends the rest of what is estimated to be a short life trying to repair his relationship with Casey, coping with the impending marriage of his ex-wife to the nice guy doctor who wants Silver to have the surgery, and dealing with the odd mental and physical quirks caused by loose blood clots entering his brain. This is an amusing, touching, complex, and intelligent story but one which leaves you wondering at the end.

Salvage the Bones by Jessmyn Ward

Salvage the Bones by Jessmyn Ward, Fiction-261 pages

This year's National Book Award winner starts out quiet and slow, but builds to a big, strong finish. 15 year-old Esch, motherless, lives in Bois Sauvage, Mississippi. The story revolves around her, her family, their place, her brother Skeeter's dogs, and the impending storm. It is a thoughtful, violent, and beautiful piece of work.