In Trouble

Gr 9 Up—It is difficult today to imagine a time when a pregnant teen would be considered a pariah. But in 1956, that was the case. Jamie and Elaine are high school juniors with plans to attend college. Both find themselves pregnant; Elaine by her college boyfriend, and Jamie as a result of a date rape. Elaine is Catholic; even if abortion were legal, she would not have one. Her parents decide that she will go to a Catholic home, have the baby, and give it up for adoption. Elaine wants to keep her baby and is sure that her boyfriend will stop ignoring her and marry her. Jamie does not share her friend's optimism. So involved is she in trying to help Elaine consider other options and in dealing with her father's return to his family after being imprisoned for several years for his political views that it takes from March, when the story begins, too late May for her to realize that she, also, is pregnant, but she is able to use contacts that allow her to have an abortion. In contrast to its subject matter, which is based on interviews with numerous women who were pregnant teens in the 1950s, the novel has an innocence that illustrates but does not scrutinize the dangers of trying to end a pregnancy during that time. The author's notes and acknowledgments draw together the past and present, making the book a good choice for required reading in sociology or advanced American history classes. In Trouble should be available in every library serving young adults.—Suanne Roush, Osceola High School, Seminole, FL