Fiction, Fantasy and YA: "The First Part Last"

Bibliography

Johnson, Angela. The First Part Last. New York: Simon Pulse, 2005.

Plot

Bobby is a typical sixteen-year-old living in New York City.  He is in high school and likes to hang out with his friends and his girlfriend, Nia.  All of this abruptly comes to a halt when Nia becomes pregnant.  Once Bobby and Nia make the decision on what to do about this unplanned pregnancy with the support of their parents, life takes over and changes everything.

Critical Analysis

Johnson writes this story in a style that the reader gets the story from two different time perspectives, the “then” and “now”.  Bobby is the narrator for all of the chapters except for the one entitled “Nia” near the end.  The two parts, the “then” and “now” do not match up until they meet in the middle at the end of the story.  Then it is revealed to the reader how the “now” came from the “then”.  It is a story about more than a young man raising a baby.  It is about a baby and the choices that are made that raise a boy into a man and allows him to see the true value of family.  This realistic fiction novel allows young readers to see the hardships that come with teen pregnancy.

Awards Won and Review Excerpts

Coretta Scott King Award, 2004
Michael L. Printz Award, 2004

Starred Review in SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Brief, poetic, and absolutely riveting, this gem of a novel tells the story of a young father struggling to raise an infant.”

Starred Review in BOOKLIST: “Johnson makes poetry with the simplest words in short, spare sentences that teens will read again and again.”

Connections

Margaret Bechard’s Hanging On To Max has a similar storyline with a different ending.  The students could compare the two experiences.

The cover art for The First Part Last reveals the love this sixteen-year-old has for his baby girl.  It helps to attract young readers to this compelling story.  Students could create their own cover art for other books using this one as an example.