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daeqt's review against another edition
5.0
The pregnancy project was literally one of my favorite books I've ever read, and I loved the lifetime movie adaption almost as much too.
Gabby Rodriguez breaks down stereotypes that have followed her family and many other families by exposing things friends, students, family, and faculty members say about her while she pretends to be pregnant.
A good portion of the book focuses on her families past and how the stereotypes were involved in her family, making it easier to understand why she chose to do such a presentation in the first place. The next part focuses on actually putting together the project and gathering reactions from those around her and finally presenting the project.
There is a small bit after the project that explains how she was contacted by reporters and also how her friends, family, and people around her reacted to finding out that she wasn't actually pregnant.
All in all, this book was very eye opening and a very quick and easy read.
Gabby Rodriguez breaks down stereotypes that have followed her family and many other families by exposing things friends, students, family, and faculty members say about her while she pretends to be pregnant.
A good portion of the book focuses on her families past and how the stereotypes were involved in her family, making it easier to understand why she chose to do such a presentation in the first place. The next part focuses on actually putting together the project and gathering reactions from those around her and finally presenting the project.
There is a small bit after the project that explains how she was contacted by reporters and also how her friends, family, and people around her reacted to finding out that she wasn't actually pregnant.
All in all, this book was very eye opening and a very quick and easy read.
cstaude's review against another edition
4.0
After hearing my students talk about this book for so long, I finally got to read it. It is a fascinating story of a mature and brave young woman who created one of the most challenging senior projects ever- a fake pregnancy- and used it to study the impact that stereotypes about pregnant teens has on them and their futures. Really well done! Worth a read.
k_wall's review against another edition
5.0
This was an amazing book about a teenager who pushed the limits with a school project. She taught a lot of people that you do not have to be what everyone expects, but she learned a lot about herself and how strong she can be. I was so excited while reading this book that Gabby got all of the adults in this process to see her vision. There were a lot of hoops to jump through, but she was persistent and planned ahead to get what she wanted. This is a very inspiring book for both young adults and older adults. We do not have to fail just because someone has told us we are bound to based on our family history. I was very impressed by Gabby's story!!!!
lizzderr's review against another edition
3.0
I had high expectations for this book. I liked the idea of socially-conscious creative nonfiction written by a young adult, for young adults. Unfortunately, while Rodriguez's message about rising above stereotypes and judgments--both those applied to us and those we project onto others--is worthwhile, this book, as a culmination of her project, is just okay. While I appreciated having the first third of the book establish Rodriguez's background and the context of this project, it did mean that the story took a while to build up momentum. Also, I find projects in which someone pretends to be X (whether X is a pregnant teen, a woman, obese, etc.) in order to speak for people who actually are X troubling. What Rodriguez did does make for a fascinating sociological experiment, particularly at the high school level, but it's frustrating to me that we're not paying an equal amount of attention to young women who actually do become pregnant in high school. Finally, the downside to having Rodriguez write this so soon after the experience itself is the arguable lack of perspective she has on it--I wonder what she might have to say about this whole period of her life ten years from now.
jwinchell's review against another edition
2.0
This is a 2014 Abe.
Teens will probably love this, especially the premise. I was intrigued by her idea of exposing and subverting stereotypes; finding one's own power to rise beyond low expectations will resonate for many. I struggle generally with ghost writers, though. How much of this was Gaby? I appreciated her
Teens will probably love this, especially the premise. I was intrigued by her idea of exposing and subverting stereotypes; finding one's own power to rise beyond low expectations will resonate for many. I struggle generally with ghost writers, though. How much of this was Gaby? I appreciated her
chefd's review against another edition
5.0
This book is for all teens and their parents. I never give anything five stars.
kpeet's review against another edition
1.0
The writing seemed very juveline, and this girl is supposed to be 18. The backstory about her family took up a good half, and it dragged on. The actual content about her MONTHS pretending to be pregnant were only a few pages. The same thoughts about her family being disappointed repeated incessantly. I didn't really feel bad for the way she was treated because she brought this upon herself knowing what would happen, and honestly I don't know what point she was trying to make. That pregnant teens are looked down on? Yeah, no shit. Everybody already knew that. How badly they're treated? Well Gaby didn't seem like her life was too bad, she kept all her good friends and her boyfriend. She wasn't called any horrible names, and the things people said about her - please, she was 16, my toddler niece could come up with more hurtful words. I've missed the point here.
The second half is probably 90% her talking about defying stereotypes and how she's upset that everyone could believe she would get pregnant. What stereotype did she defy? She wasn't actually pregnant. She is a smart, ambitious Latina girl who seemed like she had her whole life ahead of her. Of course people aren't going to believe you got pregnant!
The drama with her brother's drinking seemed like random filler to me. And to mention that at your presentation? That's incredibly tasteless.
It's to be noted that I've never written a review. This book deserved it.
The second half is probably 90% her talking about defying stereotypes and how she's upset that everyone could believe she would get pregnant. What stereotype did she defy? She wasn't actually pregnant. She is a smart, ambitious Latina girl who seemed like she had her whole life ahead of her. Of course people aren't going to believe you got pregnant!
The drama with her brother's drinking seemed like random filler to me. And to mention that at your presentation? That's incredibly tasteless.
It's to be noted that I've never written a review. This book deserved it.
kthornette's review against another edition
4.0
“What was the difference among women who had abortions; women who abandoned, neglected, or abused their kids; and women who waited until they were ready and loved their kids?”
This is another book I decided to pick up given the current events surrounding Roe v. Wade.
It was a very eye-opening and a fascinating experiment dealing with social stigma and consequences on Gaby as well as the nuances surrounding teen pregnancy in society and the media. I really liked Gaby’s commentary on how we don’t have to be the statistic we fall into, and that we can overcome it.
I loved the format of a story with dialogue and some small essays with research. Personally, I would’ve loved more on the actual project during the months and its ramifications rather than the long backstory.
This is another book I decided to pick up given the current events surrounding Roe v. Wade.
It was a very eye-opening and a fascinating experiment dealing with social stigma and consequences on Gaby as well as the nuances surrounding teen pregnancy in society and the media. I really liked Gaby’s commentary on how we don’t have to be the statistic we fall into, and that we can overcome it.
I loved the format of a story with dialogue and some small essays with research. Personally, I would’ve loved more on the actual project during the months and its ramifications rather than the long backstory.
kelseyrazzledazzle's review against another edition
3.0
The content was interesting, but the writing is definitely that of a senior in high school.