Author: Gaby Rodriguez
Gaby Rodriguez is my age -- high school class of 2011. I think that only made her story that much more powerful for me. She grew up the daughter of a single mom and the youngest of eight kids; her mom had her first child at age fifteen. Most if not all of her older siblings became parents as teens. Gaby has spent her whole life hearing that she'll never amount to anything and that she'll be a teen mom too.
She's done everything she can to reject those stereotypes; she's in the top five percent of her class, she isn't sexually active, and she has plans to be the first in her family to go to college. But still the stereotypes are there.
So for her senior project, she pretends to be pregnant. Her project is about the negative effect of stereotypes, and she lives it. For six months, she endures the snide comments and social pressure facing soon-to-be teen moms, telling only a handful of people (including her mom and boyfriend, but not her siblings or her boyfriend's parents).
Gaby deals with an incredible amount of pressure and her experience is truly powerful. I am simply awed by what a girl my age did to reach out to those around her, and I wish everyone could read this book and see how damaging stereotypes truly are and the strength of character it takes to press on despite having everyone set against you.
I don't have words for the effect this book had on me. The world I grew up in is so vastly different from the one Gaby grew up in, and her story is eye-opening. Definitely, definitely read it.
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