Baby Blues - Hardcover

Wurmfeld, Hope Herman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 067084151X ISBN 13: 9780670841516

Publisher: Viking Juvenile, 1992

Synopsis

Annie's boyfriend, Jimmy, a member of a graffiti gang, becomes her only confidant after she quits school when her father dies, but she remains afraid to tell him one painful secret, and wonders whether she is prepared for his lifestyle.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

In an afterword to this brief novel about teenagers who give up their babies for adoption, Wurmfeld tells how she was informed, at five, that she was adopted, her mother's uneasiness leaving her insecure and feeling ``different'' from other children. Here, she considers the experience of birth parents. The circumstances are plausible: after Dad's death, Annie lives with her older brothers; Frank takes responsibility for her but is away a lot, driving his 18-wheeler. Jimmy hangs out with a graffiti gang. They're fairly casual about sex but not promiscuous, and Annie's so innocent that she doesn't realize, or at least admit to herself, that she's pregnant until it's too late for an abortion. Annie's colloquial narration and the inarticulate dialogue of these blue-collar dropouts are the greatest strengths here. But though the model is realistic, it is also the stereotypical one among many. Compounding the problem is the characters' lack of depth. Annie's and Jimmy's speech and actions betray their immaturity and lack of ambition, but their inner lives--their value or potential, why they are as they are--remain unexplored. Still, a believable look at some of the circumstances and feelings that can be associated with this painful life event. (Fiction. 12-16) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

Wurmfeld's own adoption inspired this brief novel about teen pregnancy. Annie, her mother long dead, has just lost her father to leukemia. She has missed so much school that she has quit and found a waitressing job instead, and her isolation and grief lead her to grow more dependent on her boyfriend, Jimmy. Always thin, she's initially unconcerned when her waistband feels tight, but when the doctor eventually reports that she is six months pregnant, an abortion is too risky. If telling her older brother is tough, so is informing Jimmy. Yet Annie doesn't want marriage now, and realizes that placing their baby with loving adoptive parents is the wisest recourse. The author's approach to depicting rural, blue-collar America is to allow Annie to narrate in laboriously colloquial English: "Me and the guys some nights we go down to the lake." Although nothing's said about the necessity for practicing either safe sex or birth control, and although Annie smokes marijuana while pregnant without any editorial comment, the novel does reveal a touching if mild view of the adoption process, which is underscored by an afterword about Wurmfeld's personal experiences. A short glossary explains related terms. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Juvenile
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 067084151X
• ISBN 13: 9780670841516
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 80