Module 3: The First Part Last

Module 3

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

Summary

This book goes back and forth between two timelines. In chapters set ‘then’ 16 year old Bobby finds out that his girlfriend, Nia, is pregnant. They go together to Dr. appointments and to talk with a social worker about their options. In chapters set ‘now’ Bobby is taking care of the newborn, named Feather, by himself. He lives with his mother, but she insists that he bear the responsibility of fatherhood himself. He struggles to balance the overwhelming love he has for the baby with the drastic changes in his life and his options for the future.

Citation:

Johnson, A. (2003). The first part last. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster

My impressions

This is a beautiful book. It shows teen pregnancy from the father’s perspective which is unusual and poignant. The split timelines tells both sides of the story in an intriguing way that gives the narration a fragmented feeling that feels right for a story about new parenthood. Most of the characters are fully formed and believable. Nia and her parents are not as well formed, but they are not in much of the story so it is not a major issue.

Review from Booklist

"Johnson, Angela. The First Part Last. 2003. 144p. Simon & Schuster, $15.95 (0-689-84922-2). Gr. 6–12. 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, but he’s totally devoted to caring for her, even as she keeps him up all night, and he knows that his college plans are on hold. In short chapters alternating between “now” and “then,” he talks about the baby that now fills his life, and he remembers the pregnancy of his beloved girlfriend, Nia. Yes, the teens’ parents were right. The couple should have used birth control; adoption could have meant freedom. But when Nia suffers irreversible postpartum brain damage, Bobby takes their newborn baby home. There’s no romanticizing. The exhaustion is real, and Bobby gets in trouble with the police and nearly messes up everything. But from the first page, readers feel the physical reality of Bobby’s new world: what it’s like to hold Feather on his stomach, smell her skin, touch her clenched fists, feel her shiver, and kiss the top of her curly head. Johnson makes poetry with the simplest words in short, spare sentences that teens will read again and again. The great cover photo shows the strong African American teen holding his tiny baby in his arms. —Hazel Rochman

Rochman, H. ( 2003). [Review of the book The first part last, by A. Johnson]. Booklist, 100(1), 122. Retrieved from EBSCOhost

Idea for use in library

This would be a very good book for a book club discussion in a high school library.  It is a fast easy read that teens would enjoy and there are a lot of elements in the book that would contribute to a good discussion.