Prom Babies

April 1, 2024
Six teens experience unforgettable proms. Black, biracial high school senior Mina is attending prom with her sort-of boyfriend--the white, evangelical captain of the football team. White junior Penney and her boyfriend--a senior of Ghanaian descent--plan a special, private after-prom party. Sheryl is white, lives in foster care, and wasn't even planning on attending prom, until one of the popular guys asked her out. Each girl becomes pregnant and decides against termination. While the circumstances around the pregnancies are different, and the girls move in different social circles, they become allies, forming a family to raise their children together. Now, 18 years later, these children are preparing for prom. Blossom, Mina's daughter, is in a committed relationship, but she's worried about having sex with her boyfriend for the first time. Amber, Penney's daughter, is attending prom with her girlfriend, but she's determined to make a statement against the outdated, gendered, heteronormative, patriarchal foundation of the event. Cole, Sheryl's son, is struggling with misogynistic beliefs about girls, women, and sex that pervade his social circle and that he perpetuates. Magoon deftly explores issues relating to teen relationships, including expectations, consent, sexuality, and virginity. Although the topics are heavy, the tone is uplifting. While the book has chapters from each major character's point of view, the character development is light and may leave readers wanting more. A multigenerational novel that digs into relatable and timely topics. (Fiction. 12-18)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 15, 2024
Grades 9-12 Six teens past and present must make the best decision for themselves in Magoon's latest novel. In 2005, Sheryl, Mina, and Penny are preparing for prom night and their next steps after high school. All those plans quickly change when they each find out they're pregnant and have to determine how to approach family, their romantic partners, and the changes happening in their bodies. Fast-forward to 2024, and their teen children, Cole, Blossom, and Amber, are preparing for their own senior prom and navigating challenges while keeping their mothers' experiences and difficulties in mind. By exploring both time periods and following each character's perspective, the author allows space for each teen to make major decisions about their lives while acknowledging the external factors that affect their choices. While it may be difficult to form a connection to a character when there are so many perspectives to follow, Magoon excels in approaching important topics like abortion, faith, consent, sexual assault, and building community in this meaningful novel.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2024
The year is 2005, and high school students Mina, Penney, and Sheryl are looking forward to prom night as an opportunity to dress up, dance, and have fun with their friends. Of course, there are also their dates: Penney's long-term boyfriend, Mina's boyfriend of convenience, and Sheryl's cute classmate. While their experiences that night are vastly different, they wind up at the same Planned Parenthood office having received the same news: they are all pregnant. Their decisions to continue the pregnancies form an unexpected alliance among the three, with Mina, Penney, and Sheryl vowing to look after one another and their families. Eighteen years later, their children are preparing for their prom night, with complex issues of their own. Blossom is trying to figure out how far she should go with her boyfriend. While Amber has consented to attend with her girlfriend, she still takes issue with the gender-biased nature of the prom rules -- and decides to address it on a school-wide level. Cole discovers a family secret while attempting to navigate his own problematic ideas about consent. The book, which alternates among all these characters and between the two time periods, considers issues of women's rights, misogyny, classism, and more from multiple viewpoints. There are no easy resolutions to any of these topics, but Magoon's empathetic, sometimes humorous style will leave readers with a sense of empowerment to form their own views. Appended "reflections and resources" address the state of contemporary reproductive rights in the U.S. Eboni Njoku

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2024
The year is 2005, and high school students Mina, Penney, and Sheryl are looking forward to prom night as an opportunity to dress up, dance, and have fun with their friends. Of course, there are also their dates: Penney's long-term boyfriend, Mina's boyfriend of convenience, and Sheryl's cute classmate. While their experiences that night are vastly different, they wind up at the same Planned Parenthood office having received the same news: they are all pregnant. Their decisions to continue the pregnancies form an unexpected alliance among the three, with Mina, Penney, and Sheryl vowing to look after one another and their families. Eighteen years later, their children are preparing for their prom night, with complex issues of their own. Blossom is trying to figure out how far she should go with her boyfriend. While Amber has consented to attend with her girlfriend, she still takes issue with the gender-biased nature of the prom rules -- and decides to address it on a school-wide level. Cole discovers a family secret while attempting to navigate his own problematic ideas about consent. The book, which alternates among all these characters and between the two time periods, considers issues of women's rights, misogyny, classism, and more from multiple viewpoints. There are no easy resolutions to any of these topics, but Magoon's empathetic, sometimes humorous style will leave readers with a sense of empowerment to form their own views. Appended "reflections and resources" address the state of contemporary reproductive rights in the U.S.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)