Book Review: Pregnant Pause

Pregnant Pause, Han Nolan
(Gr 9+)

Coming 19 September 2011
Harcourt Children's Book. Review copy from publisher.

"Nobody gets away with telling Eleanor Crowe what to do. But as a pregnant sixteen-year-old, her options are limited: move to Kenya with her missionary parents or marry the baby’s father and work at his family’s summer camp for overweight kids.

Despite her initial reluctance to help out, Elly is surprised that she actually enjoys working with the campers. But a tragedy on the very day her baby is born starts a series of events that overwhelms Elly with unexpected emotions and difficult choices. Somehow, she must turn her usual obstinance in a direction that can ensure a future for herself—and for the new life she has created."

I originally picked up this book because of the author. I've heard lots of great things about Han Nolan's books, but I've never read one for myself and thought it was about time. She did not disappoint me!

Eleanor is the type of character who felt really real because of her changing and evolving personality. She starts out as a rebellious teenager who makes a lot of wrong choices and ends up in big trouble, yes in the 50's sense...she's pregnant. After she decides, against her parents wishes, to marry the baby's father and live with his family at their weight loss camp, she starts to find another side of herself. She realizes that she can connect positively with the young campers and provide them with a shoulder to lean on. Even as Eleanor starts to find her feet in her new life, her new husband is losing his.

I loved that nothing happened like I thought it would in this story. It's part of what made it feel so real. There was no idealistic teen family playing house for reality TV cameras - there was just a lost, confused girl rushed into a marriage, about to give birth, and stuck with only an ugly orange dress that fits her. Elly managed to stay strong during some things that would have broken just about anyone. I think she's a great character for high school girls to read.

Yes, there are a LOT of books out there about teenage pregnancy, but this one adds some elements I haven't seen before. This would be a good book to use to start a discussion with teenagers about safe sex and NOT ending up in Elly's situation. It is not an easy book to read and so I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone, but, in the hands of the right readers, this book will be a welcome find.