Book Review: The First Part Last

Johnson, Angela. The First Part Last. New York: Simon Pulse, 2003


The First Part Last is a wonderfully written book told from a now and then perspective. The then part depicts Nia's pregnancy and the decisions that are involved. The now part depicts Bobby's role as a teenage father. The main character Bobby is a sixteen year old who has to take on his new role as a father. Bobby raises Feather while going to school, hanging with his friends, and keeping his sanity. The now and the then point of view meet up with one another towards the end to explain why Nia is absent from the babies life in a heart wrenching way that ties the rest of the story together.

The part of this book that really stood out to me were some choice words on the back cover. Bobby is described as a "classic urban teenager". I was forced to wonder what the author meant by this. When reading the book I had mixed feelings about that description, because of some of the more negative situations that Bobby gets into throughout the book. They made me question if Bobby should be considered a role model. Bobby does stand up and raise his baby girl when the time comes, but he did get a girl pregnant at sixteen years of age. In the book, he leaves Feather with a neighbor so he can go to school. Instead of going to school he paints graffiti on the side of a building and gets arrested. I have to ask myself if those are the incidents that make him a so called "classic urban teenager"?

Despite the negatives, I feel this is a great book because it shows parenthood from a different perspective. In most books the mother is on her own raising the child, and in this book we see a role reversal. Bobby is a loving, nurturing father who cares for his baby more than anything in the world. On page 8, Bobby's mom has to say, "Put that baby down, Bobby. I swear she's going to think the whole worlds your face." The book also portrays teenage pregnancy in a very real way. It does not sugar coat the situation, and it does not hide the truth of the struggle that is present.

This book is a Coretta Scott King Award winning book. For more information on this award and other winners go to:
http://www.ala.org/ala/emiert/corettascottkingbookaward/corettascott.cfm

For more information about Angela Johnson go to:
http://aalbc.com/authors/angela.htm