The First Part Last, by Angela Johnson

[rachelmanija]

oyceter recommended this book, so I BookMooched it. Unfortunately, by the time it arrived, I had forgotten why I requested it. The back cover made it sound like an Afterschool Special on teen pregnancy, so I put it aside and only picked it up again due to beginning the 50books_poc challenge. (The author and all the characters are African-American.)

This demonstrates another reason why the challenge is a good idea: the book is fantastic, and I would have never read it otherwise. Now I want to read all of Johnson's other books.

The storyline is simple but elegant. Alternating chapters tell a tale of past and present. In the present, sixteen-year-old Bobby is a single father caring for his baby Feather. In the past, his girlfriend Nia tells him she's pregnant. The stories move forward until they meet.

It's not the events that make this book special, but the beautiful simplicity of the prose, the precise and delicate evocation of emotions, the sweetness of Bobby's relationship with his baby daughter, and the power of Johnson's reconception of parenting as the work that separates boys from men. Not a word is wasted, every character seems real, and there's no preaching at all.

I loved it. It made me cry.

kintail, this might suit your needs: short, simple prose, excellent.

Click here to order it from Amazon: The First Part Last



My mom says that I didn't sleep through the night until I was eight years old. It didn't make any difference to her 'cause she was up too, listening to the city. She says she used to come into my room, sit cross-legged on the floor by my bed, and play with my Game Boy in the dark.

We never talked.

I guess I thought she needed to be there. And she must have thought her being there made everything all better for me.

Yeah.

I get it now. I really get it.

We didn't need to say it. We didn't have to look at each other or even let the other one know we saw each other in the glow of the Game Boy.

So last week when it looked like Feather probably wasn't ever going to sleep through the night, I lay her on my stomach and breathed her in. My daughter is eleven days old.

And that sweet new baby smell...the smell of baby shampoo, formula, and my mom's perfume. It made me cry like I hadn't since I was a little kid.

It scared the hell out of me. Then, when Feather moved on my stomach like one of those mechanical dolls in the store windows at Christmas, the tears dried up. Like that.

I thought about laying her in the middle of my bed and going off to find my old Game Boy, but I didn't.

Things have to change.

I've been thinking about it. Everything. And when Feather opens her eyes and looks up at me, I already know there's change. But I figure if the world were really right, humans would live life backward and do the first part last. They'd be all knowing in the beginning and innocent in the end.

Then everybody could end their life on their momma or daddy's stomach in a warm room, waiting for the soft morning light.

Buy the novel from Amazon: The First Part Last

Comments

[kate_nepveu]

Oh. Wow.

I don't usually read mainstream books, but I may make an exception.

*sniffles off*

[clarkco.livejournal.com]

I really like the First Part Last too. I read because I'm a Youth Services librarian and it won the Printz in 2004. I always try to read award-winners.) I especially liked the ending when Bobby and Feather move from NYC to Ohio to start a better life and like it. After reading tons of books about people from the Midwest dying to move to NYC, it's nice for the Midwest to get some love.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Awww. I remember hearing good things about this when it first came out.

[oyceter]

Yay! I'm so glad you like it! Angela Johnson is one of the best things to come out of my experience with 50 Books POC, and I'm so glad I listened to my librarian and borrowed it even though it does look like every Teen Pregnancy Special ever.

I love the last line of that chapter.

[rilina.livejournal.com]

I really love this book too! That first chapter just pulls you in, and then the rest of it somehow manages to live up to it.

[kintail.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec. I'm usually anxious and uncomfortable around babies in real life so I tend to avoid them in fiction, so this definitely isn't the kind of book I would seek out on my own, but your rec makes it sound worth a try.

[bgliterary.livejournal.com]

Angie was my very first client, and this was one of the first books I ever sold after becoming an agent, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. The fact that it's so beautiful is just a bonus. ;^)

If you're going to read her other books, my two favorites of hers are her first novel, Toning the Sweep, and a collection of poetry called The Other Side.

And if you're still looking for recommendations, check out anything by Rita Williams-Garcia, particularly Like Sisters on the Home Front.

[bgliterary.livejournal.com]

Oh, meant to also point you towards Coe Booth's Tyrell (which won the LA Times Book prize last year) or her new one, Kendra.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

That's so cool! I already have Toning the Sweep on order. I don't usually read poetry, but I may make an exception here.

Thanks for the other recommendations, too.