LitPick Review
Plan B by Charnan Simon is a book about the challenges and roadblocks teenage pregnancy can put in the way of an otherwise successful and responsible teen. The plot follows the story of a junior girl named Lucy who is at the top of her class, a really good dancer, popular, and of course has a handsome boyfriend to top it all off. She and her boyfriend have long term plans to go to the same college and get married and live their lives out together in a picture perfect manner. Of course, none of these plans include getting pregnant at 16! Now, Lucy and Luke are faced with difficult decisions and must make hard choices. With their relationship in shambles, they need to leave their carefree childhoods behind and quickly become adults.
Opinion:
This book would have fit perfectly in an after school special. You know, that moment when the concerned teacher character, or the best friends mom wants to help the at risk girl with the low reading level understand that pregnancy is serious business. Unfortunately, the book is as terrible as the majority of those after school specials were. In only 98 pages in (at minimum) size 16 point font, the plot manages to drag its heels and linger on the unimportant stuff. Even the sensual parts of the book did not managed to be interesting, merely a bit over the top. We hear way to much about her dancing and how its a metaphor for her life and not nearly enough about the only interesting part of the book, the relationship between the (also a teen mom) mother and Lucy. We walk away from this book with very little insight on either of the two main characters or what they are actually going to do with the baby once it comes. Unless I become a concerned teacher on an after school special, I would never consider recommending this book to anyone.
