1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Johnson, Angela. 2003. THE FIRST PART LAST. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0689849222
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Bobby loves New York City - the noise, the action, the people. He’s a teenager who is into what middle-class teenage boys are typically into - parties, hanging out with friends, having a girlfriend. However, on his 16th birthday, Bobby finds out that his girlfriend is pregnant, and his world changes. Bobby and Nia decide to give their baby up for adoption so they can go back to a normal life. But until the baby is born, Bobby is committed to going with Nia to her doctor appointments, bringing her pizza early in the morning, and rubbing her feet or her back when she’s feeling the stress of her changing body. But things don’t go as planned, and Bobby has to make a decision. Can he do the right thing, even when it’s the hardest thing he’s ever had to do?
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Bobby is a typical teen, which means there is so much more to him than one might see on the surface. Yes, he hangs out with friends, goes to parties, skips school on his birthday with his buddies to eat pizza and go to a movie. However, Angela Johnson is able to reveal the sensitive, insecure thoughts of an otherwise regular guy in a story that looks at the boy’s side of teenage pregnancy and its repercussions. Bobby isn’t a tough street kid, he’s just a normal high-schooler whose parents are divorced. Young adults - both male and female - will find Johnson’s portrayal of a young expectant father refreshing. What do boys think about when they find out that the “one time” turned into something much bigger? Do all boys just skip out and say, “Sorry, your problem”? Not this one. The setting of New York City serves to emphasize the difficulties of being responsible, and the commitment of this young man who is willing to step up to the plate to do what he believes is the right thing. Many young adult readers will be able to relate to Bobby - like them, there is so much more to this teenager than the often visible couldn’t-care-less attitude that rides on the surface of many teens as a defense against the struggles of their world. Johnson tells the story through chapters titled simply “now” and “then, revealing the details a little at a time in flashbacks that gradually explain the present situation until the reader crashes into the ending which is unexpected and heartrending.
I wish I had a copy of this book to hand to everyone who finds out I’m a high school teacher and says, “Wow, how can you stand to work with teenagers? They’re so disrespectful and misbehaved.” No, they’re just kids who are trying to figure out life, often in circumstances that many of us can only imagine. Bobby says, “. . . if the world were really right, humans would live life backward and do the first part last. They’d be all knowing in the beginning and innocent in the end.” There are many more Bobbys in the world than many adults realize. If only they would take the time to get to know a few of them. This young man would be a good place to start.
The book received the 2004 Michael L. Printz Award and was selected as one of the YALSA 2004 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT
*Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy: “The novel's effective alternating now/then organizational pattern reinforces the theme that the present and past are inextricably connected on the basis of choices that we make for ourselves, particularly bad choices made by youngsters who knowingly engage in risky behavior.”
*KLIATT Review: “Johnson has a way of getting to her readers’ emotions with few words, creating characters we really care about. Her young people are thoughtful, conscientious, and loving--certainly with failings, but trying to do better.”
* Kutztown University Book Review: “This is a well written and touching book that will appeal to young adult readers for its true-to-life characters."
5. CONNECTIONS
*Students who enjoy this book may want to read Angela Johnson’s previous novel Heaven. There is a connection to this previous novel at the end of The First Part Last. Conversely, this novel would also be a good follow up for students who have already read Heaven, which received the Coretta Scott King Award.
*Students can seek out other books - fiction and nonfiction - about teenage fathers. While books from the young father’s perspective are fewer, they do exist and students may want to compare experiences.
*To emphasize the theme of the novel - life is hard when you’re a kid trying to raise a kid - students who read this book can keep a journal for a week of their activities. Then reviewing the journal, think about what would have to change if they were full time parents with an infant. Rewrite the journal as a story, expanding the entries to include feelings, emotions, and thoughts.
Johnson, Angela. 2003. THE FIRST PART LAST. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0689849222
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Bobby loves New York City - the noise, the action, the people. He’s a teenager who is into what middle-class teenage boys are typically into - parties, hanging out with friends, having a girlfriend. However, on his 16th birthday, Bobby finds out that his girlfriend is pregnant, and his world changes. Bobby and Nia decide to give their baby up for adoption so they can go back to a normal life. But until the baby is born, Bobby is committed to going with Nia to her doctor appointments, bringing her pizza early in the morning, and rubbing her feet or her back when she’s feeling the stress of her changing body. But things don’t go as planned, and Bobby has to make a decision. Can he do the right thing, even when it’s the hardest thing he’s ever had to do?
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Bobby is a typical teen, which means there is so much more to him than one might see on the surface. Yes, he hangs out with friends, goes to parties, skips school on his birthday with his buddies to eat pizza and go to a movie. However, Angela Johnson is able to reveal the sensitive, insecure thoughts of an otherwise regular guy in a story that looks at the boy’s side of teenage pregnancy and its repercussions. Bobby isn’t a tough street kid, he’s just a normal high-schooler whose parents are divorced. Young adults - both male and female - will find Johnson’s portrayal of a young expectant father refreshing. What do boys think about when they find out that the “one time” turned into something much bigger? Do all boys just skip out and say, “Sorry, your problem”? Not this one. The setting of New York City serves to emphasize the difficulties of being responsible, and the commitment of this young man who is willing to step up to the plate to do what he believes is the right thing. Many young adult readers will be able to relate to Bobby - like them, there is so much more to this teenager than the often visible couldn’t-care-less attitude that rides on the surface of many teens as a defense against the struggles of their world. Johnson tells the story through chapters titled simply “now” and “then, revealing the details a little at a time in flashbacks that gradually explain the present situation until the reader crashes into the ending which is unexpected and heartrending.
I wish I had a copy of this book to hand to everyone who finds out I’m a high school teacher and says, “Wow, how can you stand to work with teenagers? They’re so disrespectful and misbehaved.” No, they’re just kids who are trying to figure out life, often in circumstances that many of us can only imagine. Bobby says, “. . . if the world were really right, humans would live life backward and do the first part last. They’d be all knowing in the beginning and innocent in the end.” There are many more Bobbys in the world than many adults realize. If only they would take the time to get to know a few of them. This young man would be a good place to start.
The book received the 2004 Michael L. Printz Award and was selected as one of the YALSA 2004 Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults.
4. REVIEW EXCERPT
*Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy: “The novel's effective alternating now/then organizational pattern reinforces the theme that the present and past are inextricably connected on the basis of choices that we make for ourselves, particularly bad choices made by youngsters who knowingly engage in risky behavior.”
*KLIATT Review: “Johnson has a way of getting to her readers’ emotions with few words, creating characters we really care about. Her young people are thoughtful, conscientious, and loving--certainly with failings, but trying to do better.”
* Kutztown University Book Review: “This is a well written and touching book that will appeal to young adult readers for its true-to-life characters."
5. CONNECTIONS
*Students who enjoy this book may want to read Angela Johnson’s previous novel Heaven. There is a connection to this previous novel at the end of The First Part Last. Conversely, this novel would also be a good follow up for students who have already read Heaven, which received the Coretta Scott King Award.
*Students can seek out other books - fiction and nonfiction - about teenage fathers. While books from the young father’s perspective are fewer, they do exist and students may want to compare experiences.
*To emphasize the theme of the novel - life is hard when you’re a kid trying to raise a kid - students who read this book can keep a journal for a week of their activities. Then reviewing the journal, think about what would have to change if they were full time parents with an infant. Rewrite the journal as a story, expanding the entries to include feelings, emotions, and thoughts.
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