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A review by kelleemoye
In Trouble by Ellen Levine
3.0
In Trouble explores the options that a young lady had in the 1950s when it came to being "in trouble." Today our options include abortion, adoption and keeping the baby, but in the 1950s abortion was illegal, keeping the baby was a stigma, so adoption was the option most accepted; however, this was not always the best option for everyone. In the book, Jaime's best friend Elaine figures out that she is pregnant and Jaime tries to help Elaine with her situation thus showing the reader the different options.
In Trouble also gives us a clear look of how the 1950s were by having Jaime's father be a political criminal being charged with communism. He has just been released from prison and throughout the book you learn more and more about his "crime" and punishment.
In Trouble was overall a good book. It grabbed me from the beginning and kept me reading; however, I felt that maybe the book was trying to do too much at one time. For example, randomly the narrative would switch to a script to show that Jaime was viewing her life as a movie. I found myself being distracted by these and would have rather the narrative stay as prose. It also seemed to have so many topics throughout- abortion, adoption, communism, movies, rape, journalism, love... Too much to focus on (though all done realistically and interestingly).
In Trouble also gives us a clear look of how the 1950s were by having Jaime's father be a political criminal being charged with communism. He has just been released from prison and throughout the book you learn more and more about his "crime" and punishment.
In Trouble was overall a good book. It grabbed me from the beginning and kept me reading; however, I felt that maybe the book was trying to do too much at one time. For example, randomly the narrative would switch to a script to show that Jaime was viewing her life as a movie. I found myself being distracted by these and would have rather the narrative stay as prose. It also seemed to have so many topics throughout- abortion, adoption, communism, movies, rape, journalism, love... Too much to focus on (though all done realistically and interestingly).