THE FIRST PART LAST BY: ANGELA JOHNSON
Bibliographic Information:
Author: Angela Johnson
Title: The Last Part First
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Copyright: 2003
ISBN: 978-1442403437
Summary: Bobby is your average teenager, except for the fact that he is a teenage father. Over the course of the book, it flips back and forth between then (the past) and now (the present) as Bobby shares his story. Instead of hanging out with his friends, going to parties, and enjoying teenage activities, he is taking care of his newborn daughter Feather. Juggling school and home life while caring for Feather isn’t an easy task for Bobby. Nia, on the other hand isn’t excited to become a mother. However, upon giving birth to Feather, Nia slipped into a coma leaving Bobby to make one of the most important decisions of his life: keep Feather or put her up for adoption.
Critical Evaluation: This coming of age story provides a unique twist: teenage pregnancy from the male perspective. Usually pregnancy that is discussed concerning teens in books is usually discussed from a girl or women’s perspective. Using a male perspective really made the book more appealing and refreshing because it wasn’t a traditional way to discuss the topic, and it gives the reader a chance to look at what teenage fathers go through as they adjust to fatherhood. Also, the title reflects the order of the book which is pretty cool. When the book starts out Bobby is taking care of Feather and Nia isn’t mentioned in great detail until later on the book. I can appreciate the author not taking the cliché route by making Bobby be absent and Nia taking care of their newborn baby. As the book progresses it flips back and forth between past and present without warning which does create confusion for the reader. I had to constantly re read things to make sure I understood what was going on. However, it certainly was worth it to read the book to the end. This book definitely doesn’t promote teen pregnancy, instead it reveals the harsh truths that come with being a parent so young and the decisions that have to be made. This story is definitely thought provoking.
Reader’s Annotation: Sixteen year old Bobby’s life changes forever when he finds out that his girlfriend Nia is pregnant. He wants to do the right thing, but sometimes it is hard to do the right thing especially when you aren’t sure what the “right thing is”.
Author Information:
Angela Johnson is an award winning African American author that has written forty books. Her first book, which was a picture book, “Tell Me a Story Mama”, won the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer award in 1991. She has won Coretta Scott King awards for not only “The First Part Last”, but also for her other novels “Heaven” and “Toning the Sweep”. “The First Part Last” won the Michael L Printz award as well. Angela was named a MacArthur fellow in 2003, complete with a $500,000 grant which is specifically awarded to those who are exceptionally talented people in a variety of differ fields.
She has also written books for younger readers such as “When I Am Old with You”, which won the Coretta Scott King Honor Book Award. Other books include: “Wind Flyers”, “I Dream of Trains”, “Lottie Paris Lives Here”, and Lottie Paris and The Best Place. Additional picture books that she has written include “All Different Now”, “The Day Ray Got Away”, “Just Like Josh Gibson”. She lives in Ohio.
https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Angela-Johnson/1263944
Genre: Fiction
Curriculum Ties: English
Book Talk Ideas: Teen Pregnancy
Reading Level/Interest Level: 9-12
Challenge and Defense Preparation:
Selection Policy: http://ccclib.org/policies/CollectionDevelopmentAccess-1999-11-16.pdf
Library Bill of Rights: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/intfreedom/librarybill/lbor.pdf
Right to Read: http://www2.ncte.org/statement/righttoreadguideline/
Rationale:
Bibliographic Information: Author: Angela Johnson
Title: The Last Part First
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Copyright: 2003
ISBN: 978-1442403437.
Intended Audience: The intended audience is young adults specifically the upper grades of 9-12. This particular book would be beneficial for an English or social studies class. Primarily the book will be used for individual study in which every member of the class should read the book, and then afterwards there can be a group discussion of what transpired in the book as well as observations and thoughts concerning the book. “The First Part Last” can be utilized to start talking points about teenage pregnancy as well as the harsh realities of being a young parent.
Summary: Bobby is your average teenager, except for the fact that he is a teenage father. Over the course of the book, it flips back and forth between then (the past) and now (the present) as Bobby shares his story. Instead of hanging out with his friends, going to parties, and enjoying teenage activities, he is taking care of his newborn daughter Feather. Juggling school and home life while caring for Feather isn’t an easy task for Bobby. Nia, on the other hand isn’t excited to become a mother. However, upon giving birth to Feather, Nia slipped into a coma leaving Bobby to make one of the most important decisions of his life: keep Feather or put her up for adoption.
Relationship to the school objectives: The relationship of the book to school objectives would be helping 9th graders develop their literal and inferential understanding skills and comprehension skills. Through reading this book they would learn SLE # R.9.9.1 Connect own background knowledge, including personal experience and perspectives shaped by age, gender, class or national origin, to determine author’s purpose. R.9.9.5. Draw inferences from a sentence or a paragraph (including conclusions, generalizations and predictions) and support them with text evidence. Concerning summary and generalization students will utilize R.9.9.8 Summarize and paraphrase structures in informational and literary texts, including relationships among concepts and details. Concerning analysis and evaluation students will utilize R. 9.9.11 Recognize and define various points of view (e.g., omniscient narrator, third person limited) and R. 9.9.13 Identify and discuss a position using concepts gained from reading (e.g. debate, discussion, position paper, etc.). http://www.fayar.net/edvision/language/09_reading_0405.pdf
Impact: I believe this book would have a great positive impact on the students. If they read the book then I think they would think twice about putting themselves in a position to become teenage parents. This book does reveal real decisions and situations associated with teenage parents. Especially since this book is told from a male perspective, I think more male students will find the book interesting especially since they would probably be able to identify with Bobby in some way.
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