"I'm only sixteen.
I'm not a geek.
I was the Dixie Queen
at school last week.
I shimmered, glimmered
with sequins
and a tiara.
My name is Sahara,
like the desert.
Unlike the Badlands,
though,
I'm not barren."
I am intrigued by an author’s ability to tell a story in free verse and I often recommend such stories for young adult readers who only reluctantly choose reading as a pastime. Novels written in verse are not so overwhelming to the hesitant young reading adult. The text is shorter, the words carefully chosen, and the images clear. Sahara’s story begins in the first trimester and with a stick that will confirm her worst fears…ten seconds and she will know. The discovery that she is pregnant is life-altering and Sahara struggles with the decision to be made about the future…hers and that of the child that she is carrying. Her voice is so authentic, and confused, and terrified as she deals with the situation she finds herself in…alone and wondering what she should do. The story is told in trimesters and we listen as Sahara struggles to decide about abortion, adoption or parenthood. The fact that this amazing author tells Sahara’s story with warmth, compassion and even some humor is testament to her talent. I will read this book again and you need to read it, too!
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