TROUBLE

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A boy. A girl. A bump. Trouble. A smart, touching and funny contemporary young adult book from an extraordinary new talentHannah's smart and funny ... she's also fifteen and pregnant. Aaron is new at school and doesn't want to attract attention. So why does he offer to be the pretend dad to Hannah's unborn baby? Growing up can be trouble but that's how you find out what really matters.

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Trouble Hannah So I had sex with Fletch again last night. It was all right, better than last time anyway, and Fletch is a laugh. And he's not so bad-looking . . . although not so good without his clothes on. We didn't cuddle afterward--that's not really how it is with us. We were dressed and downstairs with our history books open by the time his mom came in, although you could tell she didn't buy it the way she gave me evils when Fletch's little brother ran over to show me the crown he'd made at school. Whatever. She might think she knows me by looking at the length of my skirt, but it's her youngest son who's got me sussed. Kids see all the way to your soul. What you wear and how you look mean nothing to them. I showered as soon as I got in. No one questioned me about it. Why would they? I shower a lot. Mom asked me about my homework, so I lied, but she asked to see it and we had a fight. There was a lot of screaming (her), a few tears (her), and finally a grudging "I'll do it after EastEnders" (me--although I wished she'd offered to do it). I never even got started I was so knackered. This morning I'd planned to get it done before school, but Lola threw a tantrum because she'd already eaten all her favorite cereals from the variety pack. Mom's attempt to make it better by adding chocolate milk to cornflakes was an epic fail, and Lola ended up spilling half of it on her uniform as she poured it in the bin. Guess who had to clean it up? I barely had time to grab my cold toast as Robert hustled us out and into the car. I've no choice but to do my homework now. Robert holds off for all of five minutes before it starts. "I thought you did that last night?" "Well, I didn't," I say, my eyes still on the worksheet I've got flattened on my thigh. Despite Lola's tuneless singing in the back, I hear Robert take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You lied to your mother." "No, I didn't. I said I'd do it after EastEnders--this is after EastEnders, isn't it?" "Don't be so clever." I nearly point out that clever is exactly what everyone does want me to be, but I don't want a fight. "She just wants what's best for you." "Mm-hm," I reply, my lips a tight line as I bite down on any more comebacks. "You need to stop being so hard on your mom, Hannah," he says, tapping the turn signal with his middle finger. "She needs to stop being so hard on me," I reply. I swear I just heard a sigh. "It's true," I say. "She's always on at me about something." "She loves you. She worries about you." It's only because Lola's too young for them to worry about--give her another ten years and she'll be getting the same shit as me. "Tell her not to bother." That was definitely a sigh. "Perhaps if you tried applying yourself to your schoolwork a little more . . ." "What makes you think I'm not?" "You spend so much time out with Katie and . . ." I look up to see a frown crease his forehead. He has no idea who else I spend time with and opts for a lame ". . . your friends. And your marks aren't what they should be." "Should they be more like Jay's?" I say, changing a "4" to a "7" in my last answer. Now it just looks like a weird Chinese symbol. Robert rubs the gap between his eyebrows with two fingers--a sure sign he's sick of the conversation. "I don't want you comparing yourself to him." We all know why. Robert might have the perfect son, but Mom certainly hasn't got the perfect daughter. I write over the "7" again. It looks even worse now. By the time we've dropped Lola off at her school and pulled up near the front of Kingsway I've done enough to get by, although I'll get some snarky comment about presentation when I hand it in. I tell Robert that I'll be going around to Katie's after school and open the door, swinging it straight into some boy walking past. "Sorry," I say once I've got out and slammed the door shut. "No worries." It's Aaron Tyler, the new history teacher's son. He looks through me, an elastic-band smile stretching tightly across his face for a second before pinging back into nothing as he carries on walking down to the school. I watch him for a moment. He's quite cute behind that tucked-in shirt and perfect-length tie. Anyone else would get flak for looking so smart, but there's something in the way he wears it that stops anyone--even the basketball boys--from taking the piss. He only started this term, like his dad, and there's plenty of rumors why Aaron Tyler's moved schools halfway through his GCSEs. Gideon reckons he's gay and got bullied--I reckon that's just wishful thinking. I asked Katie what she thought, but she wasn't interested in why he'd left, only whether she was in with a chance. Although I know she Googled him after that to see if she could find anything. She didn't, but knowing her, she wouldn't have bothered reading beyond the first page. She's not that interested in him. My phone beeps a text. Katie. Obviously. U shag Fletch again??? He's giving ur "homework" session 10/10! Excerpted from Trouble by Non Pratt All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Friendship, betrayal, lust, and love are recurring themes in U.K. editor/publisher Pratt's first novel exploring the trials of a British teen after she finds out she is pregnant. Reluctant to reveal the identity of the baby's father, 15-year-old Hannah is surprised and relieved when her new friend, Aaron, offers to pretend he is responsible. But Aaron's motives run deeper than wanting to help Hannah: part of him hopes that acting nobly might make up for previous actions that ended in tragedy. Secrets about both characters, expressed in Hannah and Aaron's alternating narratives, will pique the interest of readers as conflicts test their efforts to do the right thing. Hannah's best friend turns a cold shoulder and spreads rumors about Hannah, while Aaron is unsuccessful at escaping ghosts of the past as he becomes more intricately involved with Hannah. Pratt eloquently shows how empathy and compassion cause hope to spring from despair. The teens' growing trust for each other gives them both strength and comfort, helping them survive heated family battles, broken relationships, and truths they find hard to admit. Ages 14-up. (June) ? (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up-Fifteen-year-old British teen Hannah is not an ambitious student and spends a lot of time partying at the park in the evenings. She soon discovers that she is pregnant. She knows who the father is, but neither readers nor any of her friends know his identity. Fellow student, Aaron, is haunted by demons of his own, and for reasons that are initially unclear, decides to help Hannah continue to mask the father's identity by claiming paternity. The novel traces the development of their relationship while navigating the issues of teen pregnancy. Character motivations, including Hannah's initial promiscuousness, become clear as the story progresses. Told in alternating viewpoints, Hannah and Aaron slowly reveal themselves to each other and develop a deep bond. While adults might be uncomfortable with the purely positive outcome, the story speaks to the teen experience and doesn't get bogged down in the slut-shaming that books with more negative outcomes reinforce. Occasionally the voices of the two protagonists can be difficult to identify. Astute observers will note that the cover art and design is reminiscent of the iconic cover of J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. Though this book does not approach Salinger's mastery, it is still worth adding to teen collections.-Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Hannah has a lot on her plate: her grades aren't great, she and her mom are fighting, and she can't be sure of the identity of her baby's father. But Hannah enjoys sex and genuinely likes most of the partners she has been with, unlike her best friend Katie, who treats the boys she pulls with contempt. For Aaron, good company is hard to find, especially since he is worried his past might catch up with him at his new school. Yet he finds new purpose when he poses as Hannah's baby daddy. Pratt's provocative debut doesn't shy away from Hannah's sexual conquests, nor are they condemned. Hannah's eventual pregnancy is posed merely as an outcome, not a punishment. However, the stress, strain, and isolation of being a pregnant teen, and, therefore, an outcast, is delivered with intense emotional clarity. Hannah and Aaron's bond could easily be misconstrued as romantic. Rather, theirs is a deep, platonic friendship, and Pratt's honest and mature depiction will endear readers to the unconventional pairing.--Jones, Courtney Copyright 2010 Booklist

Horn Book Review

When fifteen-year-old Hannah finds herself pregnant, presumably by her unrequited love, secretive new classmate Aaron volunteers to pose as the baby's father. First-person narration seamlessly alternates between Hannah and Aaron, as newfound friendships and newly learned trust empower the teens to confront their pasts. The narrators' unwillingness to disclose secrets adds tension but makes it hard to emotionally invest in the characters. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

Alternating narratives explore the private motivations of two teens brought together by crisis and the pair's developing friendship.Fifteen, pregnant and desperate to avoid revealing the father's identity, Hannah is eager to allow Aaron, the new guy at school, to pose as the baby's daddy. Readers may expect Hannah's narrative to focus on her fears about becoming a mother when she is still emotionally and financially dependent on her own parents. Instead, she almost exclusively considers her immediate situation: her fears about revealing that a drunken, consensual one-night stand with someone she should not have slept with resulted in her pregnancy and her hopes that he will eventually embrace her decision to keep the baby (an unlikely scenario). It's possible that Hannah's lack of concern about her post-pregnancy future reflects her immaturity, but it also allows readers to ignore the very difficult situations that Hannah and her family will face after the baby is born. Glossing over the harsh realities of teen pregnancy and parenthood at times invalidates the novel's authenticity. Aaron's narrative, however, with his paralyzing grief and self-recriminations about his role in a friend's death, provides a plausible explanation of why he would agree to his role in Hannah's rather outlandish deception.Ultimately, the uneven alternating storylines fail to allow either the characters or their friendship to fully develop. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.