When Susan Tate's seventeen-year-old daughter, Lily, announces she is pregnant, Susan is stunned. A single mother, she has struggled to do everything right. She sees the pregnancy as an unimaginable tragedy for both Lily and herself.
Then comes word of two more pregnancies among high school juniors who happen to be Lily's best friends-and the town turns to talk of a pact. As fingers start pointing, the most ardent criticism is directed at Susan. As principal of the high school, she has always been held up as a role model of hard work and core values. Now her detractors accuse her of being a lax mother, perhaps not worthy of the job of shepherding impressionable students. As Susan struggles with the implications of her daughter's pregnancy, her job, financial independence, and long-fought-for dreams are all at risk.
The emotional ties between mothers and daughters are stretched to breaking in this emotionally wrenching story of love and forgiveness. Once again, Barbara Delinsky has given us a powerful novel, one that asks a central question: What does it take to be a good mother?
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Creators
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Publisher
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Awards
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Release date
January 5, 2010 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780307704733
- File size: 352740 KB
- Duration: 12:14:52
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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AudioFile Magazine
Susan Tate has weathered her teenage pregnancy and single motherhood well--she's come to adore her daughter, Lily, has doggedly pursued her education, and is confident as a school principal. Cassandra Campbell's portrayal confirms this with a sureness of voice. All of that changes when Lily reveals a secret--she is pregnant, and so are two of her bright and athletic friends. Campbell depicts Susan's emotional roller coaster ride, including the reactions of friends and family, the fear of losing all she's built, and the prejudices of some of the people in the coastal Maine town in which she lives. Campbell occasionally adopts a believable Maine accent, most often to emphasize the narrow--minded views of some of the characters. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine -
Publisher's Weekly
November 30, 2009
Delinsky proves once again why she's a perennial bestseller with this thought-provoking tale of three smart, popular teenage girls who make a pact to become pregnant and raise their babies together. Lily, Mary Kate, and Jess also happen to be the daughters of best friends Susan, Kate, and Sunny, and the mothers are thrown into a tailspin by this unexpected news. Susan, the principal of the town's high school, has the most to lose, when the schools superintendent and editor of the local newspaper question her abilities as a leader and mother, and other parents prove quick to blame her—a single mother herself who got pregnant as a teenager—as a poor role model. But all three women must come to grips with where they failed as mothers, how the dreams they had for their daughters are disappearing, and scathing smalltown judgment. Timely, fresh, and true-to-life, this novel explores multiple layers of motherhood and tackles tough questions.
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