Review: Me, Him, Them, and It

Me, Him, Them, and It

By: Caela Carter
Release Date: February 5, 2013

Description:

Teen pregnancy isn't just what it looks like on "16 and Pregnant;" it can be heartbreaking and emotional, and utterly gripping—as in this debut novel.

When Evelyn decided to piss off her parents with a bad reputation, she wasn't planning to ruin her valedictorian status. She also wasn't planning to fall for Todd-the guy she was just using for sex. And she definitely wasn't planning on getting pregnant. When Todd turns his back on her, Evelyn's not sure where to go. Can a distant mother, a cheating father, an angry best friend, and a (thankfully) loving aunt with adopted daughters of her own help Evelyn make the heart-wrenching decisions that follow?

With the popularity of Juno, Teen Mom, and The Secret Life of the American Teenager, this novel has a built-in audience. Gripping, heartfelt, and responsible, Me, Him, Them, and It is not to be missed!

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CAELA CARTER is a student at the New School's MFA program, concentrating in writing for children. Currently a middle school librarian, she spent six years teaching, and one summer educating and counseling young mothers and pregnant teenagers. She also writes for Teen Writers Bloc, a blog on children's literature. This is her first novel.

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Review:
Teen pregnancy is never an easy topic to talk or write about and in most cases even deal with, but it happens and quite often unfortunately. This book describes what happens when Evelyn finds out that she is pregnant. She doesn’t know what she is going to do, whether to keep it, give it up, abort it and after she makes that decision what will she do afterwards. This is her journey.
To begin with even before finding out she was pregnant she seemed to have her own issues. Her parents are like zombies going through the day to day without really acknowledging her because they have their own problems. Evelyn is extremely cynical and doesn’t really want to exist but at the same time she’s doing all these things so that someone can finally hear her and sees her for what she really is, lost. She pretends not to care about Todd, the baby’s father but she really does. Even going so far as keeping their whole relationship a secret, which is never a good thing. Her best friend Lizzie is this wild child who is trying to find her father.

After her parents are finally knowledgeable about her pregnancy they work out a plan for her to go to live with her aunt for the rest of the school year. This is all her own choice because she doesn’t want anyone to know she is pregnant. But even as she moves to her aunt’s house everything isn’t as happy as she thought it would be there. Again, everyone has their own issues they have to deal with but they are all trying to help Evelyn the best way they can, even if sometimes it seems as if she doesn’t want or need it. She befriends another pregnant girl at her new school. Evelyn completely sees the difference between herself and her Maryellie, whereas her friend really wants the baby and Evelyn is still on the fence about the whole thing.
What I liked most about this book was that while Evelyn was trying to make her final decision on what to do about the baby that’s growing inside her you can see the different dynamic and family types that are out there with her own friends and family. Her aunt is adopted who is married to a woman and they both adopted two little girls. Her parents are splitting up and look how well that turned out for her. Her best friend is from a single parent home and is desperately trying to find her father. The baby’s daddy Todd doesn’t want anything to do with anything. But I don’t even think she realizes all the different people around her that could so easily help her make the decision she needs to make.

This story was all around great, and realistic in so many ways. I think young adults can definitely relate to Evelyn and wanting things to be normal, but a baby changes everything. Even if you don’t want it to, it definitely does. This book had me in tears by the end and it was just wonderfully written and an adventure into a young adults mind during this trying time. I loved every minute of it and don’t like any of the characters any less for what happened and what had to have happened.

Disclaimer:

I received this book from NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, so that I may give my honest opinion and a review. Whether it is good or not please do not let it discourage you from purchasing/reading the book yourself and forming your own opinion. What might be good for me may not be good for you and vice versa. With that said, Happy Reading Everyone!!!