After - Amy Efaw

Genre: Young Adult

Format: Hardcover / Library

Pages: 350

ISBN: 9780670011834

Rating: 4/5 Stars

This was truly hard to read yet seemed necessary. It is about a 16 years old girl who was pregnant and delivered her baby on her bathroom floor and then throw the baby in the dumpster outside her house. This is how the book starts so I am not really giving anything away. The story is really about what she was thinking and the events leading to her court hearing as well as her actual court hearing.

There were a lot of unanswered questions but I really don't want to dwell on that. My main focus was on Devon (the girl). Her Mother was never around and when she was it really didn't seem like she was really even there. She was so concerned about herself and never really about her daughter, Devon which leads a lot of people to do things that they normally would not do. I do stick up for Devon for why she did it but I still hate that she did it. I kept wanting her to see the baby and to actually come to terms with having the baby. She denied the whole thing. She kept telling herself that she was not pregnant and that the baby wasn't real. She kept referring the baby as IT. I know many people put the blame on her but I always think that people act the way they were raised to a certain degree. Parents mold their children so I start blaming the Mother then I move on to putting blame on her.

I do like the ending but as I said before there are unanswered questions that I would like to know but you know I hate to do spoilers so I will keep my mouth shut! But I do think that this book is good for young adults because it shows them the consequences and it also shows them that things are real even if you don't want to believe it, you still have to come to terms with your reality.