Plan B by Charnan Simon

Photo taken from Goodreads

Book Info

Title:  Plan B 

Author:  Charnan Simon

Publisher:  Lerner Publishing Group

Publication Date:  3/1/2011 

Language: English 

Format:  Digital copy 

Pages:  104 pages 

ISBN-13:  9780761361497

Source:  Advanced reader's digital copy from Lerner Publishing Group, via NetGalley
*Part of my Mini Reading Challenge*  

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Summary

From Lerner Publishing Group:  

"Is this happily ever after?

Lucy has her life planned out: she'll graduate and then join her boyfriend, Luke, at college in Austin. She'll become a Spanish teacher and of course they'll get married. So there's no reason to wait, right? They try to be careful. But then Lucy gets pregnant. Now, none of Lucy's options are part of her picture-perfect plan. Together, she and Luke will have to make the most difficult decision of their lives."

Review

After reading After - isn't that funny? - by Amy Efaw, I was hoping to read a similar story with a different take, something more accepting of their situation, unlike Devon and her denial.  I wanted something like Juno or like Allison in Knocked Up.  That is why I decided to request for this book on NetGalley.

This book had so much potential, but never unraveled.  And I am not complaining about this book's length.  Good stories do not need hundreds of pages.  But it would have been great if the author was able to elaborate further on the effects of teenage unprotected premarital sex.  Luke and Lucy were very credible as lovesick and lovestruck teenagers.  They were very in love with each other, but the quick shift into Lucy's pregnancy also created a confusing shift in their characters.  I felt that Luke's sudden change from scared and irresponsible boy to dependable and mature adult was too hurried and unreal, in that it still felt like he was still acting under his parents' influence.  It did not feel like how a real responsible teenager would act under the circumstances.  I'm not saying that a real teen would immediately accept whatever happened, but the phases that he would go through would be very obvious and notable that when he finally accepts his responsibility, everything has fallen into place naturally.  Lucy, on the other hand, was the perfect scared and confused pregnant teen.  Between these two, I would have preferred more communication and action to have happened before the final outcome.  

Another problem I had was that this book was supposed to show Luke and Lucy's Plan B.  However, even towards the end, they were still undecided about what that plan would be.  The readers are left hanging as to the characters' futures and though sometimes it's good to make your own guess, I would have liked a more black and white ending for this story as I felt it required more specific answers for its very specific topic.  

On the bright side, the author was able to perfectly portray the causal relationship between unprotected sexual contact and growing number of teenage pregnancy - and in such limited number of pages at that.  Regardless of the issues I presented above, this story is a good, light, but educational read for teenagers in teaching them about safe sex.  Most reproductive health classes would appear too superficial and feigning concern for the issues but reading this book, not only would teenagers be able to accept and understand the impact of safer sex, they would also be entertained by this light and compelling read that was able to summarily delve into their world without any judgment and prejudice.

And regardless of my negative points, I would still say that I enjoyed this book, although not as much as I enjoyed After, but good enough. 

Rating

If you have any questions on this particular rating, please refer to my ratings system here.

Notice

I received this book free of charge from the publisher, Lerner Publishing Group through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest and truthful review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book. 

Please contact me for questions, comments, and suggestions.   

 

I, Emma Freke by Elizabeth Atkinson

(Photo taken from Goodreads)

Title:  I, Emma Freke
Author:  Elizabeth Atkinson

Publisher:  Lerner Publishing Group
Publication Date:  11/1/2010 

Language: English

Format:  Digital copy

Pages:  234 pages
ISBN-10:  0761356045 Hardback

ISBN-13:  978-0761356042 Hardback

Source:  Advanced reader's digital copy from Lerner Publishing Group, via NetGalley

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Rating:

This book made me laugh from the first mention of 'I, Emma Freke' up until its last pages.  The childish way of storytelling and the way that the main character, Emma, claims to be an adult is endearing, funny, and hit very close to home.  I mean, who has never experienced being out of place and thinking that being an adult is way cooler than remaining a kid/teenager?  Ladies and gentlemen, let's hear it from I, Emma Freke by Elizabeth Atkinson. 

Summary from NetGalley:

"What's in a name? I, Emma Freke is a charming search-for-identity story about Emma―the only "normal" member of her quirky family. Her flighty, New Age mom seems to barely have time for a daughter, especially one who annoyingly spoils her mom's youthful façade. Emma's well-meaning grandpa is clueless. And her only friends are the local librarian and a precocious 10-year-old adopted by the two old ladies next door.
Smart, shy, and nearly six feet tall, Emma struggles to fit in at school, so she jumps at the opportunity to "home school" until that too turns into another of mom's half-baked ideas. The real crisis comes when she gets an invitation to The Freke Family Reunion, and her fellow Frekes aren't at all what she expects. While Emma desperately tries to find her niche, she discovers that perhaps it’s better to be her own "freak" than someone else's Freke."

I can so relate with Emma.  Maybe not with the name, although I do have some issues with mine (my real full name sounds to me like a character from a Spanish television series), but with the appearance.  I used to be the tallest girl in class in my late elementary and high school days.  Everyone would look strangely at me, and everyone asked me if I play some sport or another.  They always seem to think I'm playing volleyball or basketball so when I tell them I'm not really interested in sports, they say the same thing every time:  "Too bad, your height will make you a star."  As if not being a very good athlete won't affect my playing in any way.  When joining clubs, other people always think that just because I'm taller than everyone else (yes, including most guys) makes me more mature and smart and they all want me to head one club after another, forgetting that running one club precludes you from heading another (I was editor-in-chief of the school paper, and they all want me to be president of the Science Club even if I'm not that much of a Science geek, the Drama Club even if I was only there once, and other clubs I don't even have interest in).  It also sort of affects the 'making friends' part because teenagers are almost always intimidated by my height, and their first impression of me is always 'bitchy' or 'snobbish' even if I'm none of those things.  For Emma, most of the above are true, but kids her age tend to think they are 'above' her, or that she's not very important, and  I can totally say that she is partly to blame because she herself tends to hide inside her shell when confronted by other teenagers.  She doesn't give others a chance, immediately assuming that they are just laughing at her, and that they don't like her.  She never even gave being sociable a try.  And, already aware that her name sounds funny, she even adds to its ridicule by saying "My mom forgot to say it out loud when I was born."  Can't she just stop making a big deal out of it?  Stevie had it spot on when she said that "names and words only hurt if you let them."  But then, with Emma's lack of self-esteem and real maturity, I guess that's predictable.

This book was a cute tongue-in-cheek story of a typical egocentric teenager's dilemma:  Not fitting it, feeling like they don't belong.  There's really nothing new in here, except maybe for the Freke family reunion that showed a bunch of people acting like sheep and going with the herd.  Emma was placed in two extremes:  Her independent and indifferent life with her mother, and the structured, organized, and freakishly collective life with the Freke family.  Somehow it's like saying that the grass is greener on the other side, only to find that it's just the same.  Hopefully, these two extremes would help Emma choose her own path and her own spot on the grass.  But however cute and light and very readable this story is, it's not entirely new and there is a large array of young adult fiction books devoted to this kind of issue.  But then again, this is not a contest to see which book is best, and I can say that, for this book's part, it certainly made the grade.  I loved the plot, the voice, and the characters are thoroughly detailed they are virtually human.  I really enjoyed the humorous description of Emma's life, and there are some really laugh-out-loud moments that some 'teenage issues' books do not have.  There were some parts that I felt was hurried, especially towards the ending, and I thought it would have been better if another twist was added or another chapter was written to make the story come full circle, but I guess it's for the best to leave the story at that, and let the reader think for themselves.  Although the storyline is quite light, it still never fails to elicit empathy for Emma, as well as for teenagers like her who have difficulty fitting it.  It makes the reader see this 'shallow' crisis through the sufferer's eyes and not just giving a story of hope and inspiration, it also teaches them how to treat these young adults well.

This book was just released November of last year, and I urge you to go get a copy of this one.  You won't regret reading and re-reading this book.

 

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I received this book free of charge from the publisher, Lerner Publishing Group and Netgalley, in exchange for an honest and truthful review. This, in no way, affected my opinion or review of this book.