- Hardcover: 368 pages
- Publisher: St Martin's Press; 1 edition (30 Jan 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312271220
- ISBN-13: 978-0312271220
- Product Dimensions: 24.3 x 16.2 x 3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,285,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Caroline Leavitt's writing is so fluid, her characters so well realized, I found myself reading "Girls In Trouble" nearly until the sun came up. When I was finished I felt as though I had made a new friend, and had stayed up all night listening to her stories."
-Pam Houston
"Heartfelt, filled with humanity, this story about the different forms of family bonds is a joy to read."
-Elizabeth Strout, author of "Amy and Isabelle"
"The beauty of Caroline Leavitt's writing is in her flawless depiction of our human flaws. In "Girls in Trouble", we ache for Sara, whose youthful decision will color the rest of her life--a poignant story of family and love, of what we lose, and sometimes, what we find again."
-Gail Tsukiyama, author of "Dreaming Water"
"Kept me pinned to the page, swept along in an intense emotional journey with characters so real they seemed like friends. A beautifully written, moving and very wise book."
-Kate Grenville, Orange Prize winning author of
-Pam Houston
"Heartfelt, filled with humanity, this story about the different forms of family bonds is a joy to read."
-Elizabeth Strout, author of "Amy and Isabelle"
"The beauty of Caroline Leavitt's writing is in her flawless depiction of our human flaws. In "Girls in Trouble", we ache for Sara, whose youthful decision will color the rest of her life--a poignant story of family and love, of what we lose, and sometimes, what we find again."
-Gail Tsukiyama, author of "Dreaming Water"
"Kept me pinned to the page, swept along in an intense emotional journey with characters so real they seemed like friends. A beautifully written, moving and very wise book."
-Kate Grenville, Orange Prize winning author of
The Chicago Tribune
Compelling. A likable, flowing explication of the bond that cannot be controlled or erased by anyone.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Sara's pain are coming ten minutes apart now. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Sara's pain are coming ten minutes apart now. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
107 reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Outstanding!
3 Jan 2004
Format:Hardcover
Caroline Leavitt -the author of this book is one girl who is not in trouble. Her sensitive portrayal of a birth mother and an adoptive mother and the tragedy and escasty of what brings them together and then drives them apart is an outstanding accomplishment. Managing to never dismiss or diminish the emotions of any of the so true to life characters in this novel, Leavitt keeps the reader engrossed and caring, and at least for this reader, occassionally crying.
Leavitt, author of seven previous novels, wings her way effortlessly through a laybrinth of emotion that never gets cloying as it illuminates the conflicts of the human heart.
Well done. A breakout novel if there ever was one.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
A full circle filled with hope for two "girls in trouble", mother and daughter
15 Oct 2006
Format:Paperback
You would think that a book on the subject of a troubled open adoption would be terribly depressing, but even though I was going through issues while reading this book for the first time three years ago, it isn't. There is something remarkably hopeful and uplifting in this book, a kind of sense that love really is timeless and all encompassing and there is always hope in the end for a good result. You don't have to be a sixteen year old with a baby to get the message of this book.
This book is a story about a young girl named Sara, who is smart, bookish and shy. And then she meets Danny, who is everything she is not. Incredibly, he loves her. But as soon as the two 15 year olds find out that she is pregnant, everything goes to hell. Danny disappears and Sara is left too pregnant for an abortion with her parents, who only want for her to give up the baby for adoption and move on with her brilliant life and plans.
Here come in Eva and George, two loving, caring, people in their forties who want a baby and cannot have one. So they decide to adopt. During Sara's pregnancy they are everything her parents are not. Supportive and kind they become a kind of extra-parent set for Sara. But as soon as her baby, Anne, is born, things change. Eva and George want time with their baby, but Sara can't stop loving her child, or the adoptive parents. Soon this escalates to jealousy, confrontation, fighting, and a decision that changes five lives forever. The "girls in trouble" of the title refers not only to the old saying used for pregnant teens in the 50's, but to the consequences of the decision on Sara and Anne.
The plot sounds depressing and sad and a little hopeless, but this is about, almost, absolution for our faults and coming full circle after great trial and trauma. The author's turn of phrase is amazing, especially when it comes to expressing all kinds of love and devotion in a non-sappy way. I don't have children, and never went through the kind of situation that happened to Sara but I can still relate to the emotions behind this book. Anyone could with how well it is written. You will laugh, cry, and be sad when this book is over. Recommend highly.
Five stars.
This book is a story about a young girl named Sara, who is smart, bookish and shy. And then she meets Danny, who is everything she is not. Incredibly, he loves her. But as soon as the two 15 year olds find out that she is pregnant, everything goes to hell. Danny disappears and Sara is left too pregnant for an abortion with her parents, who only want for her to give up the baby for adoption and move on with her brilliant life and plans.
Here come in Eva and George, two loving, caring, people in their forties who want a baby and cannot have one. So they decide to adopt. During Sara's pregnancy they are everything her parents are not. Supportive and kind they become a kind of extra-parent set for Sara. But as soon as her baby, Anne, is born, things change. Eva and George want time with their baby, but Sara can't stop loving her child, or the adoptive parents. Soon this escalates to jealousy, confrontation, fighting, and a decision that changes five lives forever. The "girls in trouble" of the title refers not only to the old saying used for pregnant teens in the 50's, but to the consequences of the decision on Sara and Anne.
The plot sounds depressing and sad and a little hopeless, but this is about, almost, absolution for our faults and coming full circle after great trial and trauma. The author's turn of phrase is amazing, especially when it comes to expressing all kinds of love and devotion in a non-sappy way. I don't have children, and never went through the kind of situation that happened to Sara but I can still relate to the emotions behind this book. Anyone could with how well it is written. You will laugh, cry, and be sad when this book is over. Recommend highly.
Five stars.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Great topic for a book club discussion
29 July 2004
Format:Hardcover
The subjects of teenage pregancy and open adoption are sure to push alot of buttons during any group discussion, and the author certainly provides plenty of fodder for conversation. I felt for the character of Sara; young and intellegent with nothing but promise and success maped out in her future, she finds herself deep in the throws of adolescent love with a boy from the "wrong side of the tracks". An unplanned pregnancy results and Sara for all her intellegence childishly chooses to ignore things until too late. She proceeds with an open adoption which of course we know is headed for disaster. I thought the issues of maternal devotion and insecurity(by both the birth and adopted mothers), were accurately portrayed and painfully realistic. The birth father appears to have no interest in the child and although Sara is forced to move on with her life, she is never fully able to let go of the baby she left behind. The book provides a satisfying conclusion (no sugar coating here), on what is a complicated and emotionally laden issue. There are no winners here just a oddly comprised "family" struggling to make a life for themselves. A few of the characters were fairly weak (Sara's parents were paper thin, and Danny's mother was a little sterotypical), but overall a good effort by this author.
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