The First Part Last

1. The First Part Last Author: Angela Johnson Publisher: Simon Pulse Year Of Publication: 2005 Lataijya Bright

2. Introduction • In the book, there are many chapters titled “then” and “now”. Bobby, the main character, was given some bad news from his girlfriend Nia on his sixteenth birthday. She tells him that she is pregnant. He deals with having to finish school, staying out if trouble, and taking of care his daughter alone. His mother doesn’t help him at all. She feels that it his responsibility to take care of Feather because if he would have been using protection, he would not be in that situation. The setting mostly takes place at Bobby’s mother, Mary, apartment.

3. Protagonist/Antagonist • The protagonist is Bobby, because instead of giving Feather up for adoption, he kept her. The antagonist is Nia and her health situation. Since she cannot take care of the baby, Bobby will have to take care alone.

4. Central Conflict • The main conflict of the story is when Nia goes through being in persistent vegetation stage. She almost looses her life while having the baby. Nia survives the pregnancy and moves in a nursery home.

5. Minor Characters K-Boy and JL are Bobby’s best friends. They sometime help him with Feather. They are pretty stunned when Bobby tells them that Nia and questions if they should keep her. Little do they know that Bobby will do an excellent job at raising Feather, he just has to get used to it. Paul, Bobby’s brother, is a great example of how to be a responsible man and take care of your children. Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins are Nia’s parents who are very distraught when the doctors tell them Nia is in persistent vegetative state.

6. Summary • The book goes through a series of flashbacks and events that happen now. When Nia tells Bobby that she is pregnant on his sixteenth birthday, they both are scared and don’t know whether to keep it or not. Bobby decides to keep it and he know that Nia will not be able to take care of it because of her condition. He is really a single parent with no help. Learning that being a teenager and a single parent isn’t easy, Bobby has a hard time with being in school and still wanting to have fun. He gets arrested one day for spray painting graffiti on a wall. This showed his parents and Feather’s baby-sitter that he isn’t responsible, but he finds a way to reassure them that he can take care of Feather by himself. After all the obstacles that come with raising a child put a whole lot of pressure on him. He was not able to enjoy his teenage years anymore. Bobby made Feather his number one priority and proved to everyone that he is responsible enough to take care of his daughter alone.

7. Reader’s Outlook I think that this is one of the best books I’ve ever read. The First Part Last main character, Bobby, had a lot of courage to take on the responsibility of taking care of a child all alone. I do not know anybody that would do something like that. Usually the mother only takes care of the child, but this book is exceptional because the father is the one taking care of a child. I commend this young man for being so brave. He faced many obstacles, but those didn't stop him. Bobby did not let the fact that he was a teenager and that Nia was in a serious condition get in the way of him raising his child. I think that every teenager should read this book.