On the flip side of my novel reads, I've been dabbling in the Young Adult and Middle Grade sections here and there. I read See You At Harry's out of curiosity since this was one of THE books pegged to read this year, by everyone I seem to follow on Twitter. Also, I will be attending a Writer's Workshop later this month, in which Jo Knowles is one of the keynote speakers. I try to read up on future panels whenever I can.
Anyhow, Jumping Off Swings was a hit and miss for me, thus the reason for my 3-star rating. I love Jo's writing. She touches the reader just right, but felt there was something missing in the characters. Walking away from this book, I keep thinking "I want to know more". This is a YA novel about teen pregnancy. It's about just going for it. It's also about making me weep in the end (again)!
I Tweeted to Jo directly that her book made me cry, and she responded back with an apology. I honestly don't know if I meant that in a good way or not. The conclusion to the novel is not how I personally would have proceeded with a pregnancy as a teen. I think that's what struck me and I think that's what an actual teen reading this novel would really think about. This is a perfect example of a book which could be used as text in Sex Ed classrooms. You hand this off to 14 year old girl, she'll think deeply about her options.
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