The First Part Last

This little thing with the perfect face and hands doing nothing but counting on me. And me wanting nothing else but to run crying into my own mom's room and have her do the whole thing.
It's not going to happen....
Bobby is your classic urban teenaged boy -- impulsive, eager, restless. On his sixteenth birthday he gets some news from his girlfriend, Nia, that changes his life forever. She's pregnant. Bobby's going to be a father. Suddenly things like school and house parties and hanging with friends no longer seem important as they're replaced by visits to Nia's obstetrician and a social worker who says that the only way for Nia and Bobby to lead a normal life is to put their baby up for adoption.
With powerful language and keen insight, Johnson looks at the male side of teen pregnancy as she delves into one young man's struggle to figure out what the right thing is and then to do it. No matter what the cost.

Author: Angela Johnson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 06/01/2003
Pages: 144
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.41lbs
Size: 7.90h x 4.74w x 0.67d
ISBN: 9780689849220
Audience: Young Adult

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.7
Point Value: 3
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 70717 / First Part Last


Award: Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award - Nominee
Award: Volunteer State Book Awards - Nominee
Award: Iowa Teen Award - Nominee
Award: Rhode Island Teen Book Award - Nominee
Award: Sequoyah Book Awards - Nominee
Award: Green Mountain Book Award - Winner
Award: Coretta Scott King Award - Winner
Award: Michael L. Printz Award - Winner
Award: Tayshas Reading - Commended
Award: South Carolina Childrens, Junior and Young Adult Book Award - Nominee


Review Citation(s):
Kliatt 05/01/2003 pg. 10
Ebony 06/01/2003 pg. 21
Voice of Youth Advocates 06/01/2003 pg. 136
Kirkus Review - Children 06/01/2003 pg. 805
School Library Journal 06/01/2003 pg. 144
Publishers Weekly 06/16/2003 pg. 73
Booklist 09/01/2003 pg. 122
Qbr the Black Book Review 09/01/2003 pg. 30
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 09/01/2003 pg. 18
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2003 pg. 384 - Superior,Well Above Average
Black Issues Book Review 11/01/2003 pg. 76
Booklist Ed Choice Youth 01/01/2004 pg. 779
Booklist 02/15/2004 pg. 1073
ALA Best Books Young Adults 03/15/2004 pg. 1282
ALA Recmd for Reluctant YA's 03/15/2004 pg. 1293
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2003 pg. 384 - Superior,Well Above Average
School Library Journal 10/01/2004

About the Author
Johnson, Angela: - Angela Johnson has won three Coretta Scott King Awards, one each for her novels The First Part Last, Heaven, and Toning the Sweep. The First Part Last was also the recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award. She is also the author of the novels Looking for Red and A Certain October. Her books for younger readers include the Coretta Scott King Honor Book When I Am Old with You, illustrated by David Soman; Wind Flyers and I Dream of Trains, both illustrated by Loren Long; and Lottie Paris Lives Here and its sequel Lottie Paris and the Best Place, both illustrated by Scott M. Fischer. Additional picture books include A Sweet Smell of Roses, Just Like Josh Gibson, The Day Ray Got Away, and All Different Now. In recognition of her outstanding talent, Angela was named a 2003 MacArthur Fellow. She lives in Kent, Ohio. Visit her at AJohnsonAuthor.com.