Johnson, Angela. 2003. The First Part Last. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0689849222.
PLOT SUMMARY:
In this short novel, a sixteen-year-old African-American boy describes a portion of his life as a single father. The chapters alternate between “Then” and “Now.” The “Then” chapters describe Bobby’s life during the pregnancy of his girlfriend, Nia. The “Now” chapters delve into the exhaustion he feels while caring for his infant daughter, Feather.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
In The First Part Last, Johnson deals with themes of family obligations, single parenthood, and love. All three themes are tied in closely. The realities of fatherhood are not sugarcoated at all. Bobby is tired, stressed, and scared. The varying reactions of Bobby’s mother and Nia’s parents are interesting to examine. Bobby’s mother purposefully distances herself as a way of forcing Bobby to ascend to his new role as a parent. Nia’s parents, on the other hand, become distant as a way of to cope with pain.
Johnson uses physical descriptions of characters sparingly throughout the book as is needed to give depth to someone’s personality. When describing characters, she focuses on details such as stature, skin tone, and manner. For example, when describing K-Boy, Johnson writes: “He’s mahogany and tall, and can’t walk down the street without everybody staring at him. He’s beautiful, but acts like he doesn’t know it.”
The entire story has a sense of tension to it. You can’t help noticing the glaring difference between the Then and Now chapters. In the latter, Nia is very obviously missing. Waiting to discover the reason for her absence held my complete attention to the end.
REVIEWS:
Booklist: “But 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.”
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.”
CONNECTIONS:
With shows like Secret Life of the American Teenager and Sixteen and Pregnant popping up on TV, this book’s subject matter is sure to catch the attention of teen readers. Teens might also try reading Hanging On To Max by Margaret Bechard or Dancing Naked by Shelley Hrdlitschka.
PLOT SUMMARY:
In this short novel, a sixteen-year-old African-American boy describes a portion of his life as a single father. The chapters alternate between “Then” and “Now.” The “Then” chapters describe Bobby’s life during the pregnancy of his girlfriend, Nia. The “Now” chapters delve into the exhaustion he feels while caring for his infant daughter, Feather.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
In The First Part Last, Johnson deals with themes of family obligations, single parenthood, and love. All three themes are tied in closely. The realities of fatherhood are not sugarcoated at all. Bobby is tired, stressed, and scared. The varying reactions of Bobby’s mother and Nia’s parents are interesting to examine. Bobby’s mother purposefully distances herself as a way of forcing Bobby to ascend to his new role as a parent. Nia’s parents, on the other hand, become distant as a way of to cope with pain.
Johnson uses physical descriptions of characters sparingly throughout the book as is needed to give depth to someone’s personality. When describing characters, she focuses on details such as stature, skin tone, and manner. For example, when describing K-Boy, Johnson writes: “He’s mahogany and tall, and can’t walk down the street without everybody staring at him. He’s beautiful, but acts like he doesn’t know it.”
The entire story has a sense of tension to it. You can’t help noticing the glaring difference between the Then and Now chapters. In the latter, Nia is very obviously missing. Waiting to discover the reason for her absence held my complete attention to the end.
REVIEWS:
Booklist: “But 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.”
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.”
CONNECTIONS:
With shows like Secret Life of the American Teenager and Sixteen and Pregnant popping up on TV, this book’s subject matter is sure to catch the attention of teen readers. Teens might also try reading Hanging On To Max by Margaret Bechard or Dancing Naked by Shelley Hrdlitschka.
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