What do You think about The First Part Last (2005)?
I think this book was not terrible but it was not good. I had a mutual feeling toward this book. I think this book had a lot of flaws and it was confusing at times. A few weaknesses about this book was that, every other chapter talked about the past and the other chapters talked about the present, which made it difficult to follow what was really happening throughout this book. Also another weakness was that one of the main parts, which I think should've been released in the middle, wasn't told until the ending. I also did not like the way the book ended. A few strengths was that it kept me on my toes the whole time by keeping me guessing about what was going to happen next. I do not recommend this book to be read for a summer reading project because its short and doesn't have enough details about the important parts, but if you are reading this book for fun I think you'll find it interesting and shocking.
—Brianna Soucy
tIt's an old story, really. Two crazy, blissed-out, in-love teenagers lose track of reality and responsibility....and find themselves suddenly deep in the reality of PREGNANCY. Somehow, the couple is ripped apart from the stress, and one lonely teen is left to raise the baby...and grow up a LOT...all on their own (and with a little help from their family). Think you know the story backwards and forwards? What if I told you the one left to care for the kid was the teenage BOY? Where's the mom? You'll have to read the story yourself to find out. Johnson uses time and text structure inventively throughout this very short novella, alternating chapters with the titles "then" and "now," so that you're constantly trying to pick up the pieces of what has happened so quickly and irrevocably, much like the main character as he scrambles through his mind, juxtaposing his life before, with his life after, the birth of the baby.My favorite thing about reading this novella was how Johnson expertly channeled her unique voice onto the page to develop the main character, as well as the setting and tone. You just HEAR these guys sitting around, talking, and it feels VERY honest and VERY comfortable. It's difficult to make ethnic dialect and teenage-talk not sound silly or patronizing, and I think Johnson pulls it off beautifully.It's not necessarily a preachy, cautionary tale. Not that it is AT ALL an encouragement for teens to go have lots of premarital sex and become mothers and fathers while they're still struggling through high school, either! It's almost as if Johnson understands that that particular message is so obvious, so apparent, the audience doesn't need it beat into them for the entirety of the story. Instead, she chooses to address the psychological development of a boy becoming a man, as well as give illumination to the special love that grows between a parent and child, regardless of age, situation, hardship, inconvenience, trauma, etc.Overall, a short, enjoyable read, totally worth the five or so dollars I paid for it at Borders. It obviously DOES have some sexually mature content (mostly in reference, almost nothing in graphic depiction), and a bit of mature language sprinkled here and there. Also, prepare for a tear-jerker of an ending.
—Katherine Lewis
Ten pages into the book and the poetry of this book is so good, in particular the line about the main character Bobby holding his eleven-day old baby daughter on his chest and how humans should be "knowing in the beginning and innocent in the end." He then says "Then everyone could end their life on their mama or daddy's stomach in a warm room, waiting for the soft morning's light." The book is basically about Bobby and Nia, two sixteen year olds who have a child together. The book is interesting b/c it keeps going back and forth between then (before the baby is born) and now (after the baby is born and living with her dad). Bobby is in school and trying to deal with a newborn who keeps him up all the time and for most of the book you just assume that the mother just left or didn't want the child. It's only at the end of the book that you learn the truth and I will say it surprised me. It was interesting for me b/c when I was reading it, I kept thinking that this boy could be any of the ones I used to watch playing basketball at the rec center, when I worked there. I really enjoyed this book and I honestly will say that I didn't think I would when I was reading the description of the book online.
—Rachel
