By Gaby Rodriguez
Simon & Schuster, 2012. 218 pgs. Biography.
Gaby has been surrounded by the topic of teen pregnancy her
whole life. Her mom had her first child at 14 and most of her older brothers
and sisters had babies as teens or young adults. Gaby is determined to break
the cycle and works hard in school so she can go to college. When it is time to
do her senior project however, she decides to do a social experiment to see how
people would treat her if she became pregnant. She wanted to see what
stereotypes she would face and what, if any, support she would face as a teen
mom.
With her mother and boyfriends permission, Gaby decides to
fake being pregnant for 6 months of her senior year. She talked with her doctor
and a mentor at the hospital to be sure that she was showing the adequate
symptoms at the right time. She saw first-hand how difficult it is emotionally
to deal with being a pregnant teen. When she presented her project at a school
assembly her classmates and teachers alike were shocked to learn about her
experiment. Some were angry that she had lied to them, but many were amazed at
her bravery and learned a lot about living above stereotypes. I found this book
to be fascinating! Gaby’s story has been made into a Lifetime movie and you can
find news clips of interviews she did after revealing her secret. This is a
hopeful book about how we can each be kinder to those around us and rise above
our circumstances.
AMM
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