2 Days by L. B. Tillit

Sixteen year old Neema tells her mother that her mom’s boyfriend is touching her and her mom kicks Neema out of their house.  Shocked and seeking safety, Neema goes to her boyfriend’s house and his family reluctantly takes her in.  Neema finds solace in her boyfriend’s arms, misses two days of birth control pills, and realizes several short chapters later that she is now pregnant.  How she handles this situation makes up the rest of the story.  A tightly paced hi-lo alternative for Bluford fans, reading specialists and ELA teachers will want to know about this title for teen girls ready for chapter books and looking to build their stamina.  An interesting compare and contrast on the theme of teen parenthood may be done with Williams-Garcia’s Like Sisters on the Homefront and Porter’s Imani All Mine, as well as Johnson’s The First Part Last.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Tillit, L. B.  2 Days.  Costa Mesa: Saddleback Publishing, 2012.

Plan B by Charnan Simon

Lucy has the seemingly perfect boyfriend in Luke, a hot athlete who is currently being scouted by a big university.  Her single, working mom has been able to provide a stable and secure life for Lucy who has flourished both academically and socially.  Lucy has earned her mother’s trust and, as she gains independence, she is faced with the challenges of making decisions while alone with Luke.  As the cover of this short novel conveys, an unplanned pregnancy occurs and Lucy is forced to negotiate her options.  While Plan B does not offer readers a resolution, nor the grit reluctant readers frequently seek here at Passages, it does give pre-teen girls a chance to think about and discuss the critical topics of birth control, sex, and unplanned pregnancies. Reading specialists may be interested in using this book with developing readers. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Simon, Charnan.  Plan B.  Minneapolis: Darby Creek, 2011.

Amazing Baby by Desmond Morris

From their button noses to their teeny toes, babies are designed to enthrall us, and Amazing Baby is your one-stop guide to them.  This book, full of gorgeous full-color photographs, tackles every aspect of human infant development, from gestation to toddler.  With sections on “staying healthy,” “how babies learn,” and “emotional life,” Amazing Baby covers a wide range of topics thoroughly and succinctly.  Each topic is amply illustrated with photographs and full-color overlays, and broad categories are broken down into a series of 1-2 page subtopics, each further broken down into 1-2 paragraph sections, allowing the reader to skim for pertinent and interesting information.  This book proves ever-popular, especially with our female students.  When it comes time to browse for books, you can be sure there will be a group of two or three poring over the images and information in this one.

Because it covers such a broad range, the readability of the text varies quite a bit from topic to topic.  Some of the sections dealing with physiology are quite dense, while others dealing with play or common routines are very readable.  The text is well organized, with a table of contents and a comprehensive index.  However, the real appeal of this book is in the stunning images. --Regan Schwartz

It should be noted that there are two images of a nursing infant and one image of a topless, pregnant torso, which may make this volume unsuitable for some readers or environments.

Morris, Desmond.  Amazing Baby. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, 2008. Print.