The First Part Last
Johnson, Angela. 2003. The First Part Last. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-689-84922-2.
Plot Summary
Bobby was a typical urban teenager. He liked nothing better than hanging out with his friends, eating pizza at Mineo's, tagging a blank wall, and spending time with his girlfriend, Nia. Now, he would like nothing better than a full night of uninterrupted sleep. Unfortunately, that is not in his immediate future.
On Bobby's sixteenth birthday, Nia tells him she is pregnant. The First Part Last is told in a Then/Now format. The 'Then' is the time leading up to the birth of their daughter, Feather. Readers see the fear and indecision that comes with making the life-altering decision of whether or not they should put their baby up for adoption. The 'Now' shows us Bobby's struggle to do the "right thing".
Throughout the story readers will notice Nia, the mother, is blatantly missing. We see Bobby's struggle through school days after many sleepless nights. We see a boy become a man as he deals with the consequences of his decisions. Though we receive hints along the way, it is not until the end that readers learn the reason for Nia's absence.
Critical Analysis
Winner of The Coretta Scott King Award and the Michael L. Printz Award, The First Part Last is a short, quick read but a powerful and moving story. Johnson gives readers the treat of two twists in this story. First of all, it is told from the point of view of the teen father rather than the teen mother. Second, the book is free of stereotypes as our main character, though an African American boy living in inner-city New York, is not involved in drugs or gangs. He and Nia, both, are from middle to upper-middle class families. Bobby is planning on graduating high school early and attending college. He is on the road to becoming a successful young man.
Johnson organized the book in alternating chapters that allows readers to experience Bobby's life before and after the birth of his daughter. In the "Then" chapters, Johnson tackles the tough issues that teenagers who find themselves in these situations have to face. Readers are led through a series of events such how to tell the parents, whether or not to keep the baby, and the many doctor’s appointments that pregnant women have to face. We see how the pregnancy affects Bobby's friends J. L. and K-Boy. It is through their conversations that Johnson discusses the use of birth control, and we see varying viewpoints on the subject.
The First Part Last does not romanticize teen pregnancy as we see in the "Now" chapters. Readers witness Bobby struggle with taking sole responsibility for his child. Finding daycare is a major struggle for him as is waking many times during the night to feed the baby, change the baby, and sometimes, just to play with the baby because that's when she likes to play. Though he lives with his mother, he and he alone is responsible for all of these things. The story is told in a manner that draws the reader in; we feel his exhaustion, fear, and trepidation. We feel his helplessness when tells us he wants "nothing else but to run crying into my own mom's room".
The ending is both heart wrenching and fulfilling at the same time. Readers see that Nia does not choose to be absent. Her absence is beyond her control. Though we are given clues along the way, it is not until the end of the story that Johnson reveals the mystery behind Nia's absence. Due to the development of eclampsia, Nia is in an irreversible vegetative coma and must live in a nursing home.
The theme of this realistic fiction novel is accepting responsibility and doing the right thing, whatever that may be. Teenagers will enjoy this powerful and moving story. It will give them insight as to what true responsibility is and what must be sacrificed because of ones actions and choices.
Review Excerpts
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. Scenes in which Bobby expresses his love for his daughter are breathtaking. Teens who enjoyed Margaret Bechard's Hanging on to Max (Millbrook, 2002) will love this book, too, despite very different conclusions."
Booklist: "From the first page, readers feel the physical reality of Bobby's new world: what it's like to hold Feather on his stomach, smell her skin, touch her clenched fists, feel her shiver, and kiss the top of her curly head. Johnson makes poetry with the simplest words in short, spare sentences that teens will read again and again. The great cover photo shows the strong African American teen holding his tiny baby in his arms.
Connections
This book would lend itself to a cross-curricular unit. Language Arts classes could write letters to Nia explaining what is happening with Bobby and Feather. Math classes could find the most recent statistics about teen pregnancy in America and create graphs explaining the results. Art classes could create a piece of art to represent Bobby's emotions throughout the novel as we see him do when he tags the blank wall in the story.
Obviously, this would also be a great book in a lesson concerning taking responsibility for oneself and the consequences of our choices and actions.
Related Books
Bechard, Margaret. Hanging on to Max. ISBN 0340883707
Johnson, Angela. Heaven. ISBN 978-0689822902
Johnson, Angela. Looking for Red. ISBN 978-0689863882
Book cover from http://www.librarything.com/
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