The Pregnancy Project (YA)

The Pregnancy Project: A Memoir. Gaby Rodriguez and Genna Glatzer. 2012. Simon & Schuster. 224 pages.

I'm not really sure how to rate this one.

Did it hold my attention/interest? Yes.
Was it a quick read? Yes.
Was the back story a little too long--in other words, does it take half the book to get to the project itself? Yes. Some of the back story was important. But was it half-the-book important? I'm not sure.
Did the writing get a little preachy? Yes. At times. The whole book was about how people shouldn't stereotype other people. And how if people make mistakes, you shouldn't keep banging them...more I'm not really sure what to say about this one. It is a book based on a true story; there is also a movie about this 'project.'

Did it hold my attention/interest? Yes.
Was it a quick read? Yes.
Was the back story a little too long--in other words, does it take half the book to get to the project itself? Yes. Some of the back story was important. But was it half-the-book important? I'm not sure.
Did the writing get a little preachy? Yes. At times. The whole book was about how people shouldn't stereotype other people. And how if people make mistakes, you shouldn't keep banging them on the head with those mistakes and pounding in your judgments over and over and over again. You should be more supportive and encouraging. The other message, perhaps, is that you can overcome the negative messages that surround you. If your parents, siblings, family members, teachers, friends, enemies, whoever, are telling you that you're worthless and can't do something and that you'll never ever ever ever ever get anywhere in life, then you don't have to believe it and stay trapped in that. You can be better than what others say you can be.
Were the messages good ones? Yes, for the most part. Not truly new or original, but practical enough I suppose that you can always hear them one more time.
Could the author get a little annoying with her judgments? At times. I won't lie.
Is it the best-best-best book ever written? No. Of course not. It is what it is. It is straight-forward, nothing deep or literary. The prose won't amaze you. You probably won't be gushing about this one.
But did it overall interest me until the end? Yes. For the most part.

Generally speaking, this one had plenty of details, just not the exact details I was hoping for. I wanted more details on the project itself. How she really went about faking the pregnancy day by day, week by week, month by month. What effect this truly had on her relationships--not just the summing up at the very end. In the end, this one definitely was all about tell and not much showing.

So how do you rate a book that held your interest well enough but isn't that breath-taking in the end?

Read The Pregnancy Project

• If you're looking for a YA memoir
• If you're curious to learn more about Gaby Rodriguez; the story leading up to her fake-pregnancy-project 

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews