The First Part Last



BIBLIOGRAPHY
Johnson, Angela. 2003. THE FIRST PART LAST. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0689849222.

PLOT SUMMARY
Bobby is your typical care-free teenager until his sixteenth birthday. This is when he finds out that his girlfriend Nia is pregnant. His world changes as he goes from hanging out with the boys to going to doctor’s appointments and trying to decide if he is ready to raise a baby. He shares his struggles as he tries to juggle parenthood, school and friends. This sincere first person narrative shows us how hard parenthood is at such a young age.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
This book switches from “Then” which is before the baby is born to “Now” which is after the baby is born. The alternating points of time show the reader just how much Bobby’s life has changed now that he is a father. At times I had to go back and reread chapters because I got confused by the sequence of events skipping around.

There are really only two pieces of information in the book that would lead you to think this is African-American literature. There is a picture of an African American teenager on the cover and Bobby makes some references to different characters skin tones. Other than that this book could be literature from any culture. It is a story that could happen in the African American, Hispanic, Chinese or American culture.

Bobby is a positive parenting example in a culture where men, especially teenage men, are stereotypically absent parents. Although Bobby doesn’t really know how to be a parent he is committed to giving his daughter the best life possible. The story shows how he loves his daughter deeply but at times also wants his mom to do everything for him.

This book also has some cultural markers for the inner-city. The characters use of slang terms such as “vator” for elevator, and “getting a jones” for wanting something are indicative of people living in the inner city. Another marker of inner-city living is that Bobby and his friends have a favorite past time of painting graffiti on the walls of buildings. You can also tell this book is set in a bigger city because Bobby often refers to switching subways to get from place to place.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
Winner of 2004 Printz award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Brief, poetic, and absolutely riveting, this gem of a novel tells the story of a young father struggling to raise an infant.”
BOOKLIST: “Bobby, the teenage artist and single-parent dad in Johnson's Coretta Scott King Award winner, Heaven (1998), tells his story here. At 16, he's scared to be raising his baby, Feather…Johnson makes poetry with the simplest words in short, spare sentences that teens will read again and again.”

CONNECTIONS
Have students write a reaction to the book. Did it change their view of teen pregnancy? Or have students write about what they think happens to Bobby and Feather in the next few years.

Other books by Angela Johnson:
Johnson, Angela. HEAVEN. ISBN 9781442403420
Johnson, Angela. SWEET, HEREAFTER. ISBN 9780689873867