Customer Reviews

Girls in Trouble: A Novel

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I didn't anticipate liking this book nearly as much as I did. I looked very forward to picking it up each evening and was sad when I came to the end. Very enjoyable.

Sixteen year old Sara comes from a middle class family. Her father, Jack, is a successful accountant and her mother, Abby, is a dental hygienist. Sara dreams of being a psychiatrist. She's a braniac at school and her proud parents are ecstatic she is bound for Harvard.

But they didn't count on her meeting and falling head-over-heels in love with pseudo bad boy Danny Slade. Danny listens to her. She can see it in his green eyes and when he touches her it's electric. Within a short period of time Sara goes from studious to sneaking out of the house at night to be with Danny.

Sara becomes pregnant and Danny seems to fall off the face of the earth. She can't find him anywhere and no one will tell her where he is. Her parents find out about the pregnancy too late to do anything about it so they have no choice but to reluctantly see her through.

Abby takes Sara to an adoption agency. Keeping the baby is not an option. Her parents won't allow her to ruin her life any further. Sara isn't so sure until the agency official explains 'open adoption' to her. She'd have complete access to the baby but there's one catch, it's only legal in Oregon.

Against Abby's wishes Sara chooses open adoption and begins the exhaustive search for new parents. In walks Eva and George Rivers. They are different from all the others and when Sara meets them there's an instant chemistry both ways. She begins to spend almost every waking hour with them and "Eva and George acted delighted all the time to do the littlest thing for her." Everything seemed to be going great.

Five months after little Anne's birth Eva and George start to become possessive of their new baby, their home and their time. Sara's presence suffocates them and her interaction with Anne makes Eva jealous and they decide, "maybe an open adoption could be too open."

Events arise and suddenly charges and restraining orders are filed. Sara shows up one day to find an empty house. Eva and George are gone and so is Sara's baby. Once again people she loves have disappeared from her life.

Girls In Trouble is Caroline Leavitt's eighth novel. It opens with Sara in labour in the back seat of her father's vehicle en route to the hospital. From the opening scene it doesn't let you go. Leavitt did an excellent job of catching the complexity of emotions during delivery; grabbing reader's attention and delivering them into the life of this teenager struggling for adulthood, love and security. And a relationship with the daughter she never considers a mistake.

Initially perspectives travel from Sara to Eva to George and later Danny and Anne allowing us to learn more about the characters' motivation. The only people we never hear from are Jack and Abby which would be disappointing were it not for Sara's quiet observations of their angst for their little baby.

The idea of open adoption sounds great but Leavitt opens other doors by exploring human nature and nurture. Humans can not possibly know how they are going to feel or react to a future event no matter how hard they try or believe. Sometimes the deepest primal instincts prevail.

Many emotions course through Girls In Trouble: excitement, fear, happiness, love, forgiveness, acceptance, jealousy, and the all powerful anger. With her flowing dialogue and decorative prose, Leavitt draws readers into the life of two families forever connected by one blessed event. Birth. Girls In Trouble moves quickly, settling in the middle momentarily but picking back up until the end. You don't have to worry about boredom creeping in. It won't have time. I highly recommend Girls In Trouble. Written by M. E. Wood

I loved this book. I started it and immediatly got sucked in. The story is so raw and beautifully written. I could not stand putting the book down. Caroline Leavitt knows how to write about a touchy issue with great knowledge and care. The characters are so rich and full of depth. There are no winners or losers in the book. It is easy to identify and support each character in the choices that they make, even if the choices are not easy or what would be deemed by some as the right choices to make. "Girls in Trouble" is wonderful, and I wish the story never ended. It is a beautiful read. Flawless.

Girls in Trouble was one of the best, most engrossing novels I have read in a while. The pain felt by both Sara and Eva and George is so real I could feel a heavyness in my chest while I read this book (even sneaking a quick page or two at work). Several parts broke my heart, but it was a pretty real idea book. Not much sugar coating. The only think I sort of secretly wished was for Sara to have been able to gotten back together....call me a hopeless romantic fool. R

...Barbara Kingsolver! Girls in Trouble grabbed me the way the Bean Trees did. Only this isn't Caroline Leavitt's first novel, you've got 7 more to enjoy after she hooks you with the latest. I do not use the word "hooks" lightly. I read Girls in Trouble on a flight from Los Angeles to Denver, and for the first time in my over travelled life was disappointed that the flight was not longer, long enough at least to finish this gripping story. Most every one has asked themselves a question that begins with, "How would I feel if..." and most women have asked themselves the question, "How would I feel if I got pregnant?" "What would I do?" It is admittedly one of the most personally and politically charged questions of our time. In Girls in Trouble, Caroline Leavitt involves us in the both agonizing and joyful struggle of one girl's attempt to answer it. For immediate purchase and enjoyment only.

It's 1987; and sixteen year old Sara is pregnant. Her boyfriend Danny is a bit of a rebel who her parents want no part of. Neither do they want a part of Sara and Danny's baby. Their main concern is that Sara will move on with her life after the birth so that she can follow her dream of attending college and living a good life. But since Sara wants to be a part of the child's life, she has opted for an open adoption. So finding Eva and George as adoptive parents was like a dream come true. The middle-aged couple welcomes Sara into their home with open arms, taking snapshots with her, teaching her to drive, and even keeping souvenirs of her for the baby's sake. She is allowed to come and go as she pleases. They even treat her better than her own parents. But sometimes dreams become nightmares.

Once Sara gives birth, things take a dramatic turn for the worse. The adoptive parents no longer want to see her every day, telling her they need time to bond with the baby. Truth is: Sara's maternal instincts and natural bonding with the child prove to be a bit too much for the jealous parents to handle. Meanwhile, the naïve Sara continues to make her unwelcome presence felt by dropping by Eva and George's home on a daily basis, almost to the point of fanatical stalking. But she can't help it. She loves her newborn baby, Anne, even though she's not really her baby at all. When Eva and George express their true feelings about Sara's frequent visits, she takes matters into her own hands, which forces the couple to make a drastic decision of their own.

"Girls in Trouble" tells the story of a unique and original topic, an open adoption gone terribly wrong and how the lives of the people involved are affected. The story spans over a sixteen year period. The author does a splendid job at capturing the perspective of each person involved, including the birth parents, adoptive parents, birth grandparents, and the young girl who was adopted. Caroline Leavitt (author of Coming Back to Me) has definitely brought her "A" game to the table with her crisp and intriguing writing style that will make you smile.

Though the slow-paced beginning of the story contains a few clichés about childbirth and adoption, it gets a full head of steam and continues its pace for the remainder of the tale. By the story's end, you will surely crave more and more. "Girls in Trouble" is a captivating story that will surely find its way beneath the arms of a plethora of loving fans of all ages.

Just finished reading Girls in Trouble. Oh, my God, Caroline, you are so right on target with this story. If I had had a highlighter with me while on vacation, I would have marked all the excerpts of your story that completely coincided with my true adoption story, "THE SAME SMILE". Even your choice of words and phrases are the same. I was simply amazed!

When Danny told Sarah that he had wanted her back and loved her all along, and never would have let her give their baby away, I cried and cried and cried. If only Mark had wanted me and our baby, my life would have been oh, so very different.

So, how are things going? From what I experienced as a reader, it must be doing great!

Congratulations on a job well done.

Susan Mello Souza
Author of THE SAME SMILE
The Triumph of A Mother's Love After Losing Two Daughters
www.TheSameSmile.com

This was one of the best books I have ever read. The characters come alive and the story is gripping. The subject matter is treated with sensitivity. I couldn't put it down and was sorry when it ended. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a "good read" by an excellent writer.

I loved this book. I couldn't put it done from them moment I started it. The characters are all very touching in the telling of their story. Definitely a must read but make sure you have some tissues handy.

There's a lot of talk about "open adoptions" these days, and Leavitt's new book takes us into the hearts and minds of two teenagers who fall in love and are "caught" by a surprise pregnancy. The 16-year-old girl, Sara, chooses a couple to adopt her baby when it is born, and, since the adoption is "open," that couple becomes part of her life. She writes letters to her unborn child via these parents-to-be, and the adoptive parents embrace her.

Complications ensue after the baby is born and the three adults struggle to find new ways to relate to each other. As the baby grows, even more conflicts erupt. It is a tribute to the power of Leavitt's writing that while never easy, the resolution (involving the father too) that climaxes the novel is both satisfying and emotionally honest.