Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #221513 in Books
• Published on: 1998-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 256 pages

Customer Reviews

The sad reality of a pregnant teen.
Annie is a fourteen year old girl who fell for a guy named Danny like a magnet. At first he was very kind and sincere but he often whould physically abuse her. In Annie's diary she pours out all her pain and sorrow. I felt Annie was an innocent kid who knew nothing better but to continue going with Danny even after each terrible incident. When Annie discovers she is pregnant she doesn't know what to do. She is scared to tell her mom or Danny. Who wouldn't be? Eventually Annie tells Danny and he he tells her to go pout to all the other guys she messes around with. Soon Annie gets up the courage to tell her mother, who does nothing but comefort Annie. Annie decides she won't get an abortion. She prepares for a small baby in her home. As soon as the baby is born Annie finds out how much work a baby is. Can Annie get her life together? This book is good for any person, teen through adult, because it deals with a real problem that many teens go through.

"Annie's Baby" - from the author of "Go Ask Alice"
"Annie's Baby" is supposedly a real teenage mum's diary but it obviously the creation of psychiatrist Beatrice Sparks in an attempt to deal with the subject of teen sex and pregnancy in a way which teens will relate to. Written in the same style as "Go Ask Alice" and "It Happened to Nancy" and in a diary format, it begins when Annie meets Danny. At 16, he is two years older, has his own car, and hangs around with a different crowd. She instantly falls in love with him and despite the fact that he is violent towards her, she doesn't seem to think it's wrong because "everyone is doing it". When she becomes pregnant by Danny he is typically unsupportive and uncaring. Her mother, when told, is unrealistically supportive and willing to help (for a more realistic attitude from a parent, read Mary Hooper's "Megan") and Annie changes to a school for teenage mothers. When the baby is born, Annie finds out how much work it is to have a child. Can she handle the responsibility?

Preachy but readable
The first thing I have to say is that for anyone thinking this is a true story, it isn't. The style of the writing matches that of all the other books Beatrice Sparks has "edited", and is fairly unrealistic for a teenager.

The story, however, is believable, if a little over-dramatic, and ends happily, which is not always the case. There is some depth, but not enough, and it is quite preachy.