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A review by readerpants
This Full House by Virginia Euwer Wolff
3.0
Reading This Full House after the first two in the trilogy felt like reading the third of Ellen Emerson White's books about Meg Powers: the drama and (improbable?) coincidence levels just skyrocketed.
WARNING: SPOILERS!!!
Unlike in the other two books, I just had a hard time believing in this one. Not just because of the Dr. Moore - Jolly connection, but also because LaVaughn's actions just seemed so improbable. All of that going on and she didn't talk to her mom about it... and her mom didn't notice that something was up? And would Annie really have attended school up until the end of her third trimester and then given birth in the locker room and there were NO adults around to tell, especially in a school that had enough pregnant students to warrant a pregnancy exercise class? Also, I understand no pay phones, but there are no regular phones to call the principal/office like the kind that a teacher would need in an emergency? And the paramedics come but there are *still* no school adults there? And, whoa, that thing about Dr. Moore giving birth in the utility closet and then finishing a 14-hr shift and there not being any mystery about where the heck this extra baby came from... well. Plus, those are two ultra-fast labors; I'm sure my mom would have loved to give birth in 20 minutes or less.
I found it really hard to believe that LaVaughn is so naive about sexual situations... I mean, they're seniors and Annie is the first one to be kissed? And then Annie goes from "never kissed" to "btw, sleeping with Gary and now pregnant". LaVaughn doesn't have any kind of why-didn't-you-use-birth-control or maybe-consider-an-abortion reaction in her scientist brain? (I understand that Annie would not have wanted an abortion, but I can't imagine that it wouldn't have crossed LaVaughn's mind.) Despite the fact that she's supposedly older, LaVaughn's reactions felt awfully young to me throughout the book, something that I believed when she was fourteen but am resistant to now that she's supposedly going off to college next year.
But other than being pulled out of the story by my skepticism, I still think it will appeal to fans of the trilogy and maybe readers who considered the first books insufficiently dramatic. I have to admit that I skimmed the long sections of science vocabulary -- especially that interminable DNA testing part -- but otherwise the story moved quite quickly. Despite my rant above, I didn't dislike the story or the writing.
WARNING: SPOILERS!!!
Unlike in the other two books, I just had a hard time believing in this one. Not just because of the Dr. Moore - Jolly connection, but also because LaVaughn's actions just seemed so improbable. All of that going on and she didn't talk to her mom about it... and her mom didn't notice that something was up? And would Annie really have attended school up until the end of her third trimester and then given birth in the locker room and there were NO adults around to tell, especially in a school that had enough pregnant students to warrant a pregnancy exercise class? Also, I understand no pay phones, but there are no regular phones to call the principal/office like the kind that a teacher would need in an emergency? And the paramedics come but there are *still* no school adults there? And, whoa, that thing about Dr. Moore giving birth in the utility closet and then finishing a 14-hr shift and there not being any mystery about where the heck this extra baby came from... well. Plus, those are two ultra-fast labors; I'm sure my mom would have loved to give birth in 20 minutes or less.
I found it really hard to believe that LaVaughn is so naive about sexual situations... I mean, they're seniors and Annie is the first one to be kissed? And then Annie goes from "never kissed" to "btw, sleeping with Gary and now pregnant". LaVaughn doesn't have any kind of why-didn't-you-use-birth-control or maybe-consider-an-abortion reaction in her scientist brain? (I understand that Annie would not have wanted an abortion, but I can't imagine that it wouldn't have crossed LaVaughn's mind.) Despite the fact that she's supposedly older, LaVaughn's reactions felt awfully young to me throughout the book, something that I believed when she was fourteen but am resistant to now that she's supposedly going off to college next year.
But other than being pulled out of the story by my skepticism, I still think it will appeal to fans of the trilogy and maybe readers who considered the first books insufficiently dramatic. I have to admit that I skimmed the long sections of science vocabulary -- especially that interminable DNA testing part -- but otherwise the story moved quite quickly. Despite my rant above, I didn't dislike the story or the writing.