The First Part Last (Michael L. Printz Award - Winner)
The First Part Last (Michael L. Printz Award - Winner) book cover

The First Part Last (Michael L. Printz Award - Winner)

Hardcover – June 1, 2003

by
Price
$17.99
Format
Hardcover
Pages
144
Publisher
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0689849220
Dimensions
4.5 x 0.7 x 7.5 inches
Weight
6.6 ounces

Description

From School Library Journal Grade 8 Up-Brief, poetic, and absolutely riveting, this gem of a novel tells the story of a young father struggling to raise an infant. Bobby, 16, is a sensitive and intelligent narrator. His parents are supportive but refuse to take over the child-care duties, so he struggles to balance parenting, school, and friends who don't comprehend his new role. Alternate chapters go back to the story of Bobby's relationship with his girlfriend Nia and how parents and friends reacted to the news of her pregnancy. Bobby's parents are well-developed characters, Nia's upper-class family somewhat less so. Flashbacks lead to the revelation in the final chapters that Nia is in an irreversible coma caused by eclampsia. This twist, which explains why Bobby is raising Feather on his own against the advice of both families, seems melodramatic. So does a chapter in which Bobby snaps from the pressure and spends an entire day spray painting a picture on a brick wall, only to be arrested for vandalism. However, any flaws in the plot are overshadowed by the beautiful writing. Scenes in which Bobby expresses his love for his daughter are breathtaking. Teens who enjoyed Margaret Bechard's Hanging on to Max (Millbrook, 2002) will love this book, too, despite very different conclusions. The attractive cover photo of a young black man cradling an infant will attract readers. Miranda Doyle, San Francisco Public Library Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist 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 Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "Booklist, " starred review Poetry."Publishers Weekly, " starred review Readers will only clamor for more."SLJ, " starred review Brief, poetic, and absolutely riveting."U.S. News and World Report" Johnson has carved a niche writing realistically about young people's issues. From the Publisher Winner of the The Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature and the Coretta Scott King Award. Angela Johnson has won three Coretta Scott King Awards, one each for her novels The First Part Last , Heaven , and Toning the Sweep . The First Part Last was also the recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award. She is also the author of the novels Looking for Red and A Certain October . Her books for younger readers include the Coretta Scott King Honor Book When I Am Old with You , illustrated by David Soman; Wind Flyers and I Dream of Trains , both illustrated by Loren Long; and Lottie Paris Lives Here and its sequel Lottie Paris and the Best Place , both illustrated by Scott M. Fischer. Additional picture books include A Sweet Smell of Roses , Just Like Josh Gibson , The Day Ray Got Away , and All Different Now . In recognition of her outstanding talent, Angela was named a 2003 MacArthur Fellow. She lives in Kent, Ohio. Visit her at AJohnsonAuthor.com. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • This little thing with the perfect face and hands doing nothing but counting on me. And me wanting nothing else but to run crying into my own mom's room and have her do the whole thing. It's not going to happen....
  • Bobby is your classic urban teenaged boy -- impulsive, eager, restless. On his sixteenth birthday he gets some news from his girlfriend, Nia, that changes his life forever. She's pregnant. Bobby's going to be a father. Suddenly things like school and house parties and hanging with friends no longer seem important as they're replaced by visits to Nia's obstetrician and a social worker who says that the only way for Nia and Bobby to lead a normal life is to put their baby up for adoption. With powerful language and keen insight, Johnson looks at the male side of teen pregnancy as she delves into one young man's struggle to figure out what "the right thing" is and then to do it. No matter what the cost.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(220)
★★★★
25%
(92)
★★★
15%
(55)
★★
7%
(26)
★
-7%
(-26)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

A Long Awaited Perspective-Teenage Fatherhood

Bobby describes "Just Frank", a man from his neighborhood who always asks when Bobby is going to be a man, as a joke. When "Just Frank" dies saving a young girl, Bobby begins to respect "Just Frank" and understand what it would take for him to be a responsible young father.
Bobby quickly learns that parenting is not an easy job. Angela Johnson gives a clear and accurate description of how totally exhausted new parents get. Bobby is on his own with no one making his experience easier for him.
Bobby is by no means perfect, but he grows as his experiences as a new father change and change him every day.
There is nothing false in this book. Bobby's life is not an easy one, and at times he wants to run away from the stress his situation is causing him.
All in all, Bobby unselfishly makes choices to do what is right for the baby. At times, he does consider just running away from it all, as all new parents do.
This book is worthy of its accolades and I can't say enough good things about it. Read this book and suggest it to others. Anyone can enjoy this truthful look at the ability of one small baby to completely change your life, your goals, your perspectives, and your sleep schedule.
Wouldn't it be nice if we could live our lives backward and experience the first part last? I think it would.
22 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

A very moving story about a teenage pregnancy

This review submitted on behalf of my daughter Bo-Ashley. She loved the book ...

THE FIRST PART LAST by: Angela Johnson

Published By: Simon Pulse in 2003

Summary: During this inspiring novel Bobby, a sixteen year old high school kid living in New York City, experiences a heart breaking event in which his beloved girl Nia falls pregnant and ends up in a coma following the birth of their daughter Feather. In one chapter of the book Bobby tells us he had been covering the alley walls with graffiti. In his art Bobby had created a familiar figure, he saw Nia within this baby but he could not "find" her face as if he was loosing her and could never find her. As Bobby explains his hardships and the events leading up to his loss he finds that Feather is the only thing he has that is left of Nia and can not bear the thought of giving her up to those happy smiling families on the wall, Feather was his and he was hers. And as Nia slowly slipped further and further from her surroundings, Bobby told Feather all about a place called heaven and how he imagined the place to be, the place where he knew Nia had gone.

Problem: Bobby and Nia have to decide weather to keep Feather or Give her up for adoption. And if they do give her to one of those smiling families on the wall which one will she go to?

Favorites: Bobby is my favorite character in this novel because he shows so much love toward Feather. Bobby also cares for and respects his girl Nia. Although stupid to have had a child at such a young age, Bobby finds himself with mixed emotions which he expresses withstrength and meaning.

Quote: " Nia: WHEN I WAS FIVE I wanted to be a firefighter. All my uniforms would have Nia on them, and I would speed through the city in the lightning trucks. I wanted the ladders to rise high into the sky and have me on them. I wanted my hands to pull people from fires and disasters. I wanted my arms to be the arms that carried out babies and kids, safe. I wanted my feet to be the ones that ran up endless flights of stairs and brought everybody back alive.

But by the time I was ten I wanted to be a balloonIst, and fly up high everybody, and that's what it feels like I'm doing now.

I'm flying up high over everybody; way over the city and even myself. I'm flying over Bobby and my parents, and the park with all my friends in it. I guess this is what it must feel like to be dying.

Alkl I want to do is lie here and sleep, even though I see the blood and it shouldn't be where it is. And it was just a minute ago Bobby was singing a shampoo commercial, but he's gone now.

But that's okay because all I want to do is fly."

This was the random out of place chapter that has so much meaning for this is when Nia slips into the coma. That was the last time she heard her love Bobby. It made me cry.

" I can tell you how it feels sitting in the window with Feather pointing out the creeks that rolls past our backyard. I can tell you how it is to feel as brand new as my daughter even though I don't know what comes next in this place called Heaven."

And this quote was the last paragraph when Bobby was explaining Heaven to Feather and how he knew that Nia had gone there. This also touched my heart and made me cry.

THE FIRST PART LAST was about thee best novel I have ever read. The message it sends across to the reader is so beautiful and strong, at the risk of sounding cheesy this novel actually touched upon my view of my surrounds and changed the way I think about life itself. I believe anyone who has a soul and an open mind and an imagination that's soars, one who is always asking questions will enjoy this outstanding novel. I for one know I shall read it again and soon...
10 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

A boring and superficial book

The book The First Part Last by Angela Johnson won the Coretta Scott King Author Award, but I did not find it to be a very engaging or entertaining book to read. The First Part Last is not an awful book by any means. However, since white males in their late-20's such as myself are obviously not the intended audience for this book, I did not find any characters who I was truly able to relate to or sympathize with. Additionally, I found parts of the book to lack detail and the behavior of characters seemed incongruous at times with how they had been portrayed. Maybe an African-American high school student, being a member of the group that this story features, would find this work of literature more personally relevant than I did. Or maybe not.

Angela Johnson works very hard to omit information that would give us a greater understanding of why Bobby is in his particular situation. The use of chapters alternating between flashbacks and present time seems to be used merely to conceal until the end why Bobby is raising his daughter on his own. By then I really couldn't have cared less why he was a single father. Linear storytelling with a more compelling climax would have made this story more complex and engaging.

The author tells this tale as a first person narrative through the eyes of a 16-year-old African-American boy who has just became a father. This may explain why the sentence and paragraph structure seemed to be very plain and basic, or it may just be the author's lack of skill at her craft. Regardless, even though I was reading a book with the theme of teenage pregnancy and fatherhood I felt like the simplistic writing style that would likely bore high school students made it more appropriate for middle school or older elementary pupils. While the theme could be attractive to teenagers, if i were a high school teacher I would not consider this book to be of the quality that I would use in my classroom.

Authenticity of the experiences in this book are difficult for me to evaluate as protagonist is from a different culture than me and has had experiences that I have never known. The First Part Last would fall under the category of neutral multicultural literature, though. There is absolutely nothing particularly African-American regarding the culture or in this story. The characters are ostensibly people of color, but except for the picture on the front cover there is really no way of knowing that since their names, physical characteristics described, and lifestyles could easily be European-American as well. I spent most of the book predicting that the climax of the story would reveal that the reason Nia was not with Bobby raising their daughter was because she was white and her parents would not allow the relationship.

The First Part Last is an easy read, and as contemporary realistic fiction the location and time during which this take place seem authentic. If as a teacher I was looking for a book to merely represent African-American characters involved in a series of events then I could see using this book with a middle school class. However, if I was looking for a book that represented African-American teenage pregnancy in a heartfelt and complex manner then I would most certainly look elsewhere.
6 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Hush little baby don't you cry, papa's gonna sing you...

It's a small book when you first pick it up, and that's good. Because it's a small story. Not an unimportant story. Just one of the millions of stories that could be told about the citizens of New York everyday. Yet for such a small little puff of writing, "The First Part Last" carries a big punch. It won the Printz Award (the young adult equivalent of the Newbery) as well as the Coretta Scott King Award in 2004. No one who has read it through can find it in their hearts to lobby a hateful word against it. It is loving on the deepest level and it tells a story human beings have been telling amongst themselves for millennia. It is the story of a boy becoming a man.

The book is split into two narratives, both of them originating with the narrator, Bobby. In one narrative, Bobby is telling the story of "Now". In this part, Bobby is sixteen years old and caring for his brand new baby girl. He's exhausted and worn out and jittery. All he wants to do is sleep but he has a brand new baby depending on him every hour of the day and it sometimes seems like it's more than he can bear. In the second narrative "Then" Bobby talks about how he and his girlfriend Nia discovered that she was pregnant and had to come to a decision about what to do with the baby. As the two narratives slowly come together, the reader begins to wonder certain things. For example, where's Nia all this time? Why isn't she helping Bobby take care of Feather (their baby)? And why didn't the two follow through with the idea of putting the child up for adoption? By the book's end everything is cleared up and Bobby has come the slow realization about who he is and what his role in the world has become.

The book is expertly written. Parts of it are true-to-life gritty while others verge on poetry itself. One of the best passages comes from Bobby's mother right at the beginning when she says, "Put that baby down, Bobby. I swear she's going to think the whole world is your face. She's going to be scared out of her mind when she turns about six and you haven't put her down long enough to see any of it". Little meaningful passages like that one crop up all the time in this story. The choice of separating the book into Thens and Nows comes from Bobby wishing that people could learn everything there is to know at the beginning of their lives and die in innocence at the end. It's funny reading the book in this way, partly because Bobby grows to adulthood even as he flashes back to his self-absorbed childish ways before the baby.

If I have any objection to anything in this story (and honestly, what kind of a reviewer would I be if I found any book to be completely flawless?) it's probably a single chapter that is done in the voice of Nia. The chapter serves little purpose except perhaps to read as a kind of little goodbye. Unfortunately, it's not only confusing but also unnecessary. We've been doing perfectly well with Bobby as our hero and Bobby as our voice. Why drag Nia into it all of a sudden? Otherwise, the book's a pip. A real well written document about a teen-age father that loves his little daughter more than anything else in the world. He's real and wonderful. The fact that Johnson could write something as perfect as this in a mere 131 small pages is reason enough to swoon.
5 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

A Teenage Boy Becomes of Age.

Bobby just found out he is going to be a father. Here lies the beginning of a wonderful story written by Angela Johnson. The book is in two parts. They are title Now and Then. The author takes you to before and after the arrival of the baby Feather. Bobby is a teenage boy who found out his girlfriend Nia is expecting. The book describes Bobby, Nia and their family feelings on the baby. The book to me is a wondeful take on the reality of teen pregnancy. On a sad note the readers find out that Nia is in a form of coma where she is in a vegative state for the rest of her life after giving birth to the baby. Wonderful read for tweens and teens who are intimate with one another. They could read this and comprehend somewhat the huge responsibility of having a baby as a teen.
5 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Now and Then

This was the first book I read about teenage pregnancy from the male perspective. This book was educational and enlightening.
In reading the book I noticed how the author barely talked about the mother in the present tense. It made me wonder what she was feeling and thinking, but as I read on I understood why.
When the author spoke in Bobby's voice it was very honest and poignant. I loved when Bobby realized Nia's (the mother) fate and stepped up to the plate and decided to be a single father, which is very rare in this day and age. The author also made the reader realize what a single mother goes through on a day to day basis. Very interesting book, I am going to pass this one off to my son's also.
Later...
4 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Great

Through sets of chapters reverting from "then" to "now", Angela Johnson tells the story of Bobby and his baby Feather. Bobby is 16 and when his girlfriend Nia tells him she's pregnant, his world changes dramatically. Because of the unique way this single story is split into two time periods that meet at the end, you already know the ending (or so you think) but you don't know how events unfolded to get you there.
From sketches of Bobby's life before Feather is born to days when he is bone weary from caring for her in the absence of her mother, this book is excellent. The perspective of a single father raising a child is fascinating.
4 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

A Powerful "Must-Read" For Teens

I read the opening pages aloud to my 8th grade English Language Arts class the other day and then gave a brief synopsis of the book's plot. I then offered my book as a loaner. Several students took me up on the offer (1 got the book and the rest are on the waiting list.)

This story explores the fear and yes, excitement, of pregnancy from the male teen perspective which is refreshing. I felt the book could have used more tension, but the message itself was powerful enough and the story written well enough to sustain interest.

If you are a pregnant teen or KNOW a pregnant teen, this is a must-read book. I almost hope my "loaner" copy of the book doesn't come back to me. That would mean one of my students loved it enough to keep it and read it again.
2 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

I understand why this book received the Printz Award

This book, The First Part Last, is the American Library Association's choice for the 2004 Printz Award for Young Adult literature. On reading it, I can see why. It is beautifully written, with two timelines interwoven together. Usually this would be jarring, but Johnson moves from "then" and "now" seamlessly so what happened "then" seems very much apart of "now."
"Now" being 16-year old Bobby's attempt to be responsible and raise his baby Feather without burdening his parents. Johnson makes her readers feel what it is like to have a new human being who is so dependent and so loving. She also does a good job of showing what Bobby has lost, what growing he still needs to do. He isn't sleeping, he is becoming different from his friends because they aren't fathers, he isn't getting time to paint or think or doing anything to heal himself, and he does have healing to do.
And in this process, he gains a new understanding of his own parents. My favorite moment of the book happens shortly before Bobby moves out of his mother's apartment. He overhears his mother say to the baby "Take care of him for me."
My reason for giving The First Part Last a four rather than a five rating was the ending. The ending was satisfying, but I felt like I didn't know enough about what he had decided to do and where his life and Feather's would go next. I didn't know this when I started reading this book, but this is just one in a group of books that Johnson has written about the same family. My problem was that I hadn't read the book "Heaven." So, my two cents is read "Heaven" first and you will love this book.
2 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

I feel this book had some weak points as there was a lot of repetitively language particularly around the baby and how he loved

This story was written in then and now segments.

Focusing on the time before the baby was born and the day to day lives of the two involved and the now segments focusing on the after the baby was born.

I feel this book had some weak points as there was a lot of repetitively language particularly around the baby and how he loved her and how she moved.

I don't know. This was an okay book, but not great. There are other books about teen pregnancy that may appeal more.
1 people found this helpful

Related Books