Baby Girl

Reason Book Chosen

I chose this book because I saw it on several popular urban fiction lists. Booklist said it was a “powerful novel, the voices and situations ring with authenticity”, and I liked the authenticity of the author, whom worked in a homeless shelter for women.

Bibliographic Information

Author: Lenora Adams

Publisher:  Simon Pulse

ISBN: 1416925120

Copyright Date: 2007

Genre

Urban Fiction

About the Author

Baby Girl is Lenora Adam’s first published novel. Adams is a self proclaimed stay-at-home mom of three.

Reader’s Annotation

Sheree wants a mother, not a friend, a boyfriend, not a man who comes and goes as he pleases. A daddy, not a man who occasionally gives her money. Something that will fill the hole in life. But does she want all the responsibility she is ultimately offered?

Plot Summary

At seventeen Sheree’s world is hanging out with friends, chasing boys, and occasionally smoking pot with her mom, when she isn’t dodging her mom’s newest boyfriend. She spends a lot of her time with her white, wealthy best friend, Angela, running to Philadelphia, getting into trouble, and trying to constantly track down the whereabouts of her man.  Sheree sees friends come and go, friends get pregnant, boyfriends cheat, and disappear, just like her own daddy did. In a heartfelt letter to her mom, Sheree reveals the details of her life, her feelings about her father not being around, concerns she is becoming just like her mother, and the big secret – her pregnancy- that has been weighing on her.

Critical Information

The main character, Sheree, feels realistic, as does the world she lives in. Sheree has a lot of emotional growth, especially towards the end of the novel. Her pregnancy, especially the labor itself, is written in a realistic way, without being glossy or preachy or dominating the story. Her lack of self-respect and low-self esteem, and her desire and obsession to connect with her baby’s father is heartbreaking to read, yet an important story to be hear. The style, written in the forms of letters (from Sheree to her mom, from mom to Sheree, and from Sheree to her baby) is interesting, adding emotion and familiarity. The plot, however, could use some work. There isn’t a whole lot happening in this book in the first half, and it is slow to unfold. It is not a quick action packed read, but spends its time crafting real, developed characters.

Themes/Issues/Tags

Coming of Age, Teen Pregnancy, Mother/Daughter Relationships, Single Parenting, Absent Father, Philadelphia, Betrayal

Controversial Subject Matters 

Teen pregnancy as a theme (parents whom have babies as teens will have children that follow this same pattern)

 A baby will fill a hole in a teen’s life

Book Talking Ideas

Character hook - Make a letter written to the reader (dear reader) from Sheree’s

Read the beginning of Sheree’s letter to her mother, and part of her mother’s

response letter in the end.

Curriculum Ties:

Health- Teen Pregnancy

Self-Esteem

Reading level

  14+

Interest level

 14-17