In Trouble

August 8, 2011
A film noir atmosphere weaves through this unabashedly political novel that addresses issues of abortion and free speech. Levine (Henry’s Freedom Box) evokes nostalgia for an era of multigenerational families living together, Automats, soda fountains, and Bogart films, while emphasizing the power wielded by social taboos. Sixteen-year-old Jamie tells the parallel stories of two teenage pregnancies in McCarthy-era New York City and her father’s recent imprisonment for political activism. In a first-person narrative that focuses on Jamie’s feelings of helplessness and anger, she reports occasional thoughts or memories that frighten her as if writing a screenplay: “Tight close-up on striped shirt with bull’s-eye on back.” When her friend Elaine gets pregnant by her boyfriend, she imagines they will get married, though Elaine’s ashamed Catholic parents have other ideas. Jamie’s pregnancy results from a violent rape; terrified of confiding in her family, she attempts various “remedies,” such as drinking vodka and throwing herself down the stairs. Encouraging historical awareness and personal empowerment, an author’s note compares 1956 attitudes about women and abortion with the present, noting that obtaining a legal abortion has become increasingly difficult. A gripping, relevant read. Ages 12–up.

August 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-It is difficult today to imagine a time when a pregnant teen would be considered a pariah. But in 1956, that was the case. Jamie and Elaine are high school juniors with plans to attend college. Both find themselves pregnant; Elaine by her college boyfriend, and Jamie as a result of a date rape. Elaine is Catholic; even if abortion were legal, she would not have one. Her parents decide that she will go to a Catholic home, have the baby, and give it up for adoption. Elaine wants to keep her baby and is sure that her boyfriend will stop ignoring her and marry her. Jamie does not share her friend's optimism. So involved is she in trying to help Elaine consider other options and in dealing with her father's return to his family after being imprisoned for several years for his political views that it takes from March, when the story begins, too late May for her to realize that she, also, is pregnant, but she is able to use contacts that allow her to have an abortion. In contrast to its subject matter, which is based on interviews with numerous women who were pregnant teens in the 1950s, the novel has an innocence that illustrates but does not scrutinize the dangers of trying to end a pregnancy during that time. The author's notes and acknowledgments draw together the past and present, making the book a good choice for required reading in sociology or advanced American history classes. In Trouble should be available in every library serving young adults.-Suanne Roush, Osceola High School, Seminole, FL

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