It was a great book with a powerful message. It was definitely geared more toward girls and dealt mostly with the teen pregnancy issue, but even for guys who can't really relate it is still a good read. I think every teenage girl should read this book. ( )

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The Test (Bluford Series). By Peggy Kern. Townsend Press. 2011. 139 pages. $4.95 pbk. 978-1591942344. Grades 8-12.

At the age of twenty, Liselle Mason comes back to her high school to talk frankly to current students about her experience as a pregnant teen. Told via flashback (an effective “it gets better” perspective), her story is frank, attention-grabbing, and refreshingly devoid of preachiness. She struggles over what to do and who to tell, meeting indifference (from her father) and resentment (from Oscar, the father of her child) along the way: ultimately, thanks to her mother’s pledge of support, her older brother’s encouragement, and the frightening example of hands-off parenting style exhibited by her cousin (also a teen mom), she decides to raise her baby. The novel focuses effectively on this decision-making process, showcasing Liselle’s journey to newfound maturity: the novel ends with Liselle, who hopes to become a counselor, comforting a teenage girl who is similarly “in trouble.” The combination of a mature plot and concise language make this novel a good choice for easing hesitant high school readers into novels. The work’s only drawback is that the teen pregnancy storyline can perhaps veer into tired stereotypes about urban youth. But Kern’s candid depiction of the Masons’ worries and hardships in a low-income, single-parent home offers a kernel of truth present in the experiences of many high schoolers who do not often get the chance to see themselves reflected in YA fiction. Recommended. ( )