In Trouble (Carolrhoda Lab) - Hardcover

Levine, Ellen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0761365583 ISBN 13: 9780761365587

Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab ®, 2011

Synopsis

Jamie and Elaine have been best friends forever, and now they're finally juniors in high school. Elaine has a steady boyfriend, and Jamie could have one―if she'd just open her eyes and see Paul. But Jamie has a bigger problem to worry about. Then Elaine gets "in trouble"―something they thought only happened to "other" girls. Are there any good choices for a girl in trouble?

In Trouble is a novel born of author Ellen Levine's interviews with women who came of age in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including those who knew what it was like to be a teen facing a horrible choice. In the decades before Roe v. Wade, a young woman "in trouble" had very few options―and all of them meant shame, isolation, and maybe much worse. Jamie and Elaine's stories are just two among the thousands of stories of teenagers facing unplanned pregnancies.

About this title

About the Author:

Ellen Levine is the author of many books, including Henry's Freedom Box, a Caldecott Honor book, and Darkness Over Denmark, which was a National Jewish Book Award finalist and was awarded the Trudi Birger Jerusalem International Book Fair Prize. Her book Freedom's Children won the Jane Addams book award and was named one of the Ten Best Children's Books of the Year by the New York Times. Levine is a woodcarver and a lapsed civil-rights lawyer, and she taught at Vermont College's Master of Fine Art in Writing for Children and Young Adults program.

Review:

"It is difficult today to imagine a time when a pregnant teen would be considered a pariah. But in 1956, that was the case. Jamie and Elaine are high school juniors with plans to attend college. Both find themselves pregnant; Elaine by her college boyfriend, and Jamie as a result of a date rape. Elaine is Catholic; even if abortion were legal, she would not have one. Her parents decide that she will go to a Catholic home, have the baby, and give it up for adoption. Elaine wants to keep her baby and is sure that her boyfriend will stop ignoring her and marry her. Jamie does not share her friend's optimism. So involved is she in trying to help Elaine consider other options and in dealing with her father's return to his family after being imprisoned for several years for his political views that it takes from March, when the story begins, to late May for her to realize that she, also, is pregnant, but she is able to use contacts that allow her to have an abortion. In contrast to its subject matter, which is based on interviews with numerous women who were pregnant teens in the 1950s, the novel has an innocence that illustrates but does not scrutinize the dangers of trying to end a pregnancy during that time. The author's notes and acknowledgments draw together the past and present, making the book a good choice for required reading in sociology or advanced American history classes. In Trouble should be available in every library serving young adults." --School Library Journal

(Journal)

"It is 1956 and Jamie's best friend Elaine is 'in trouble.' Naïve, inexperienced Jamie is the last of her friends to have a boyfriend, but she listens intently to the stories flying around the school. Jamie discovers that her beloved Aunt Sheila had a pregnancy she kept from the family with a man she did not love. But Elaine is in love with her baby's father and plans for an idyllic future for them all. However, her parents are embarrassed by Elaine's 'condition'; thus, she stays upstairs when there is company and lies down in the backseat of the car when they are traveling. During the early months of Elaine's pregnancy, Jamie feels an undercurrent of impending doom, and a voice keeps telling her to run. Is this feeling a result of her fear for Elaine? Does it, perhaps, reflect fear for her father who is in jail as a political prisoner for Contempt of Congress? Or is Jamie afraid for herself? Setting the novel in 1956 allows young readers to see how differently society views unwed teenagers today. For instance, Elaine is forced to live at the Catholic Home and give her baby up for adoption. Levine's novel also, unfortunately, shows us how much has stayed the same. The novel is a realistic account of girls 'in trouble' and how, with friends and family and fortitude, they make it through." --ALAN's Picks

(Website)

"Return to the 1950s, when McCarthy loomed large, abortion was illegal, and birth control meant counting days or pulling out. Sixteen-year-old Jamie and her best friend, Elaine, are both pregnant but under different circumstances. Elaine is certain Neil loves her and eventually will marry her; Jamie cannot bear to remember her first time. Regardless, both are pregnant, with Elaine being sent to a 'wage home' (home for unwed mothers), and Jamie opting for 'a D and C'; Elaine continuing her naive belief in her boyfriend until the bitter end, and Jamie making her decision in the midst of family support and understanding. Author Levine has broached a delicate subject in the hope that readers will reflect upon what life was like for women before Roe v. Wade and where our nation could be headed if we refuse to learn from our history. Yes, In Trouble is didactic, but it would be near impossible to write this story without being so. It's also a stark reminder of 'the more things change, the more they stay the same.'" --Booklist

(Journal)

"Ellen Levine has written an engaging and honest novel that reminds us how far we've come, and how far we have yet to go, in giving young women the natural right to own their own bodies. In Trouble will be a portable friend to readers who are struggling to give birth to themselves." --Gloria Steinem

(Other Print)

"In Trouble is a novel about two teenage girls, set in the 1950s in New York. Jamie and Elaine are pregnant. Elaine wants to marry her boyfriend, and Jamie can't bear to think about the nightmare that happened to her. While Jamie tries to help Elaine keep the secret from her parents and find a way to get a 'procedure' done, she's unknowingly carrying around a little trouble. And as Jamie tries to accept her own reality, she discovers what's most important to her. Jamie is the poster child for making decisions, not necessarily because she chose to do the right thing, but because she made the decision to do what was in her self-interest―something that many girls in her situation wouldn't do. Although society says it's easily juggle children, work, school, and a relationship, that's not always humanly possible. Jamie shows readers, and the people around her, that it's sometimes alright to put yourself first. And in doing so, she gives a new perspective to a choice that many people see as selfish, murderous, or wrong. As a teenage girl, I understand the terrors of being a young girl 'in trouble.' However, unlike Jamie and Elaine, I've never been in that predicament. If I were, circumstances today are definitely different, and being a pregnant teen is no longer shameful or isolating. Girls today have more options than they did back in the 1950s. In Trouble is a great book that compares society in the 1950s to present-day society. It certainly makes readers more appreciative of today's society. Jamie is a girl with whom every reader will form an emotional bond. It's a great book, but definitely not a beach read. In Trouble is a book filled with surprises and mystery that readers won't be able to put down until the very last page." --SLJTeen

(Website)

"Ellen Levine has captured the lives of an ordinary family living in the Bronx in the 1950s whose everyday existence is suddenly upended by two events: the father standing up for his beliefs and Jamie, the daughter, facing the consequences of a shocking trauma. Levine vividly portrays Jamie's struggle to understand what has happened to herself, her family, and her best friend Elaine at a time when the country was scared of the 'Commie' threat and teenagers faced few options when they got 'in trouble.' This story is a prescient reminder of how fragile legal rights may be―whether asserting our political opinions or choosing how to control our bodies―when societal winds suddenly change course. But it is also a beautifully wrought coming of age tale that speaks to every generation." --Jane M. Spinak, Esq., Edward Ross Aranow Clinical Professor of Law Director, Child Advocacy Clinic, Columbia University Law School

(Other Print)

"In a novel set in the McCarthy era, best friends Jamie and Elaine have shared secrets for years, but when Elaine becomes pregnant by her college boyfriend, the teens' friendship is tested. Jamie's dad has just been released from prison where he served time for his political views, and Jamie struggles with the social stigma of his beliefs. She tries to help Elaine sort through the difficult choices she must make regarding her unborn child, but Jamie has a dark secret of her own. Some of the dialogue comes across as a little preachy, but students will make connections with the characters. The author does a fine job of illustrating the era and the issues young women faced during that time. Sex, underage drinking, rape, and abortion are all topics viewed through young Jamie's perspective. This novel would be great as a discussion starter." --Library Media Connection

(Journal)

"Teen pregnancy long before 16 and Pregnant. It's 1956, and Jamie's best friend Elaine is 'in trouble,' code for those teenage girls who begin wearing loose clothing and then suddenly disappear to live with a mysterious 'aunt' for a while. Jamie is concerned for Elaine, but she also has problems of her own. Her father has just returned home after being jailed for his refusal to name names during the McCarthy hearings, and Jamie's relationship with him is still fragile. She's also hiding a secret equal to Elaine's: While staying in New York City with her older cousin Lois, she was date raped by one of Lois' friends and is too ashamed to tell anyone what happened. But when Jamie realizes that she's skipped a period, she suddenly finds herself in just as much 'trouble' as Elaine. Now she has to make a choice that Levine makes abundantly clear was much harder for teenage girls in the '50s than it is today. Daring subject aside, the author breaks little new ground in this typical problem novel (a stand-alone continuation of 2005's Catch a Tiger by the Toe). The dialogue-heavy prose, short length and always-timely topic will attract reluctant readers, and the familiarity of the form will carry them through. Valuable insight into a time when abortions were illegal and pregnant teenagers were hidden away instead of filmed for a reality TV show." --Kirkus Reviews

(Journal)

"A film noir atmosphere weaves through this unabashedly political novel that addresses issues of abortion and free speech. Levine (Henry's Freedom Box) evokes nostalgia for an era of multigenerational families living together, Automats, soda fountains, and Bogart films, while emphasizing the power wielded by social taboos. Sixteen-year-old Jamie tells the parallel stories of two teenage pregnancies in McCarthy-era New York City and her father's recent imprisonment for political activism. In a first-person narrative that focuses on Jamie's feelings of helplessness and anger, she reports occasional thoughts or memories that frighten her as if writing a screenplay: 'Tight close-up on striped shirt with bull's-eye on back.' When her friend Elaine gets pregnant by her boyfriend, she imagines they will get married, though Elaine's ashamed Catholic parents have other ideas. Jamie's pregnancy results from a violent rape; terrified of confiding in her family, she attempts various 'remedies,' such as drinking vodka and throwing herself down the stairs. Encouraging historical awareness and personal empowerment, an author's note compares 1956 attitudes about women and abortion with the present, noting that obtaining a legal abortion has become increasingly difficult. A gripping, relevant read." --Publishers Weekly

(Journal)

About this edition

• Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab ®
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0761365583
• ISBN 13: 9780761365587
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208