Jumping Off Swings
One pregnancy. Four friends. It all adds up to a profound time of change in this poignant, sensitively written YA novel.Ellie remembers how the boys kissed her. Touched her. How they begged for more. And when she gave it to them, she felt loved. For a while anyway. So when Josh, an eager virgin...
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One pregnancy. Four friends. It all adds up to a profound time of change in this poignant, sensitively written YA novel.Ellie remembers how the boys kissed her. Touched her. How they begged for more. And when she gave it to them, she felt loved. For a while anyway. So when Josh, an eager virgin with a troubled home life, leads her from a party to the backseat of his van, Ellie follows. But their "one-time thing" is far from perfect: Ellie gets pregnant. Josh reacts with shame and heartbreak, while their confidantes, Caleb and Corinne, deal with their own complex swirl of emotions. No matter what Ellie chooses, all four teenagers will be forced to grow up a little faster as a result. Told alternately from each character’s point of view, this deeply insightful novel explores the aftershocks of the biggest decision of one fragile girl’s life — and the realities of leaving innocence behind.
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Format: ebook
ISBN:
9780763651725 (0763651729)
Publish date: March 16th 2010
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
Edition language: English
Category:
Young Adult,
Teen,
Realistic Fiction,
Romance,
Parenting,
Family,
Coming Of Age,
Contemporary,
Womens Fiction,
Chick Lit,
High School,
Adoption
You can read all of my reviews at Alluring Reads.Jumping off Swings was a book that I bought on a whim. I was perusing my local bookstore when I saw the cover and was drawn in by the empty feeling that it gave me. The cover is the perfect pretense for the novel. It's a very quick read, clocking in a...
I read this back in September and never reviewed it. Maybe I will read it again and post a review. I just thought of it since I met Jo Knowles at a book signing this week.
I really liked the voice of all four characters in this book. It was such a serious topic but so well done. My heart broke for Ellie and it even broke for Josh even though he did everything wrong. And poor Caleb and Corrine was stuck in the middle trying to figure out what it all meant. Excellen...
I have to say up front that this is not a happily ever after book, and I'm slowly starting to realize that most books in general--excluding romance, of course--are not all going to end up that way. When it comes to facing the reality in life, and making hard decisions like choosing whether or not yo...
While it paints a picture of the realities of teen pregnancy, this book offers no new viewpoints and feels like an after school special. The characters are wooden, the plot is uninspiring, and the end is inevitable. Even the heroine's destructive habit of confusing sex with love is stated and then l...