The First Part Last by Angela Johnson is a book that young teens should use to learn from. This book is about a teenaged father named Bobby who is raising a baby named Feather practically on his own. He has to raise her own his own because his mother is trying to teach him a lesson for not being responsible even though she does love her grand daughter. She does not help him when the baby cries throughout the night or even when the baby needs a bottle. The only time she helps is when she feels like holding the baby, which is the way things are supposed to be. The book is telling two stories of his life, life before the baby and life after the baby is born. Bobby was a regular kid, worriless and no responsibilities until one day his girlfriend Nia comes to him with some bad news. She is pregnant. Bobby now has to step up and become a responsible young adult. He cannot go out with his friends and do things that he enjoys anymore unless his Feather can go with him. His life is now dedicated to his daughter. I rated this book a 10 because I enjoyed the story as a whole because it kept me interested and held my attention through the whole book. I feel that the book would have been even more interesting if the Bobby's mother got a word in about how the baby has affected her life as well, and what changes did she have to make to adjust to life after the baby. This book relates to the book Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen. The book relates to Flipped because both books tell stories from two different perspectives and they both are very quick reads. The only difference is in Flipped the story is told by two people a boy and a girl. But in The First Part Last the story is told by the same character just in two different periods in time. The moral of this book is to wait to have kids until you are ready to accept the responsibility of another life and you can support them financially.
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