Having a baby at fourteen years old is anything but easy. Jane Williams was a smart girl with a bright future- just the opposite of her rowdy, older brothers. Jane lives with her Indian family who isn’t accepted by their neighbors especially with her crazy brothers always causing a ruckus. Once Jane found out she was pregnant she decided to keep the baby, although the baby’s father, Trevor, wanted her to get an abortion. Because she was afraid of disappointing her family, the only person she told throughout her whole pregnancy was Trevor. Once baby Destiny arrives, the pressure is on to keep up her grades and not fall behind or drop out like most teenage mothers. Just walking down the hallways at school was difficult to do without hearing nasty and hurtful remarks from other kids about her having a baby. Now with Trevor moving away and not having anything to do with her or Destiny and her old friends gone, will Jane be able to pull through? With the help of her grandmother, Teh, and new best friend, Dawna, it may be possible.
Honestly, when I picked out this book I didn’t think I would enjoy it because the title is a little out there, but from what I read on the back, it sounded interesting. I learned not to judge a book by its cover because this book was great! I really liked it and could barely ever put it down. It was amazing to see Jane still be strong and determined even through the worst of times. She always held her head up high, and proved everyone who doubted her, wrong. Jane was truly an inspirational character. I also liked this book because it is very relatable to a lot of girls in this day and age, so the story was very believable. I love how it shows the reader that if Jane could be successful even with a baby, then it is definitely possible for the reader to be successful as well.
This book can easily be connected to the American dream. Jane lived a nearly perfect life before she got pregnant- lots of friends, popular in school, straight A student, and active in her school’s drama club. Once she got pregnant, a lot of people didn’t believe in her and all of her neighbors looked down upon her and her family (also because of her brothers). Her neighbors were very discriminatory against Indians, as were her peers at school against teenage mothers. Ever since having baby Destiny, Jane’s life has been very difficult with many obstacles and challenges. Jane still found the strength within her to maintain that perfect American dream life with the support of her family and best friend. -J.E.

The book, The Girl with a Baby, opens with fourteen year old Jane in the labor with her first child. Jane, a popular girl with Native American heritage has managed to conceal her pregnancy from everyone except her disinterested boyfriend up until one day before she delivers. After her baby Destiny is born, she decides to return to high school which has an on-site daycare. Thereafter known as “the girl with a baby” she struggles to juggle her roles as mother and student, while at the same time keeping her motherless Native American family together, fed, and out of trouble with the law. In a powerful story of courage and pride, Jane rises above everyone’s expectations.
This is a great read! ( )

A good book about fourteen-year-old Jane, a mother carrying on with high school and finding strength in her First Nations heritage. Her involvement with the drama club is reminiscent of True Confessions of a Drama Queen. ( )

Inspired by a true story involving her own daughter, Sylvia Olsen writes about a young teenager who has hidden her secret from her widowed father. She is a young teenager about to become a mother and wants to finish school. She being half Native American Indian gets her family to leave the Indian Reservation to be respectful to traditions. They then move to a "white" area, but then she ends up facing prejudices for being Indian. With the help of her Grandmother she makes it through school. Never forgetting how hard and how thrilling LIFE is. Source: Booklist