Book Review: "The Girl With A Baby"

The Girl With A Baby by Sylvia Olsen was somewhat of an impulse choice at the library that I grabbed just by the title alone. Teen pregnancy is something that hits very close to home with me; two of my siblings ended up becoming teen parents (and I fear for the third sibling), and I very, very nearly almost did as well - depending on just how you define it, you might say I count anyway. Anyhow, I digress. It's a topic that holds a lot of interest and sentimentality for me, so I picked it up and decided to read it.

This book gives a good view into just how hard it is to raise a baby as a teen parent - more specifically, as a SINGLE teen mother, as the father skipped out on them. It might open some girls' eyes that a baby is not something to take lightly, or to tote around like an accessory. It will make your life difficult and be a huge responsibility, and people will never look at you quite the same way again once you've become a teenage mother.

On the other hand, it also enlightens that being a teen mom also isn't the end of the world, and life goes on. Granted, this book give one of those 'best scenario' type of looks at it - I can't think of too many girls who could actually successfully pull off being the lead role in a school musical with a brand new baby at home - but I like it nonetheless. It also throws in the reality that old friends will pull away, but new friendships will be made; boys treat you differently, but there's still some boys out there who are able to treat you with some decency. It deals with the reality of how hard being a teen mother doesn't just impact the baby and mother themselves; it affects the entire family, as it generally does become a family affair and involve help from everyone to pull the weight around.

I love that this book gives a fairly realistic view of teen parenting. It sure as hell doesn't glamourize it, nor does it go and use scare tactics to try and force the oldschool notions of abstinence only. It just opens your eyes to what is out there and what will happen, without using horror stories. I appreciate that for what it is. I would actually like to see more books like this one around.

I'm rating it a 4 out of 5 stars.