The First Part Last, written by Angela Johnson, was the Coretta Scott King Award Winner in 2004. The story is about Bobby, a sixteen-year-old young man living in New York City. His girlfriend, Nia, gets pregnant and after giving birth falls into an irreversible, vegetative coma. Bobby is left to raise their baby girl, Feather, on his own. He struggles to raise her while also balancing school; he truly loves her and wants to give her the best life possible but he still misses his old life and as a result gets into a little trouble with the law. The book alternates chapters between before Feather was born (finding out about the pregnancy, doctors appointments, deciding what to do with the baby) and after Feather's birth and Nia's coma (babysitters, school, visiting Nia in the nursing home, sleepless nights).
Although Bobby is a minority in race, the book is really not about racial diversity. I think that real diversity issue The First Part Last is about teen pregnancy and that fact that teen parents, especially teen, male, single parents are definitely a minority. The book address the love that Bobby feels for Feather but doesn't over glamorize his teen parenthood. There are heartwarming scenes where Bobby expresses his desire to give Feather a wonderful life and there are also scenes where you can just feel Bobby's exhaustion and stress. The First Part Last is definitely a book written for older children, but considering how many pregnant middle school students we are now seeing I would say that we shouldn't reserve this book just for high school. There is definitely a place in the middle school library for a book that address the reality of being a teen parent.
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