The First Part Last

Bibliography
Johnson, Angela. 2004. THE FIRST PART LAST (SOUND RECORDING). Listening Library. Riverside, NJ. ISBN 1400090655.

Plot
Bobby and Nia, sixteen year old African Americans, find out that they are having a baby. At first, they agree to keep it. Then, they realize, giving the baby up for adoption would be best for everyone concerned. The baby will grow up to lead a fulfilling life, and Nia and Bobby can focus on school and start thinking about college. Until Nia has an accident and is left in a “permanent vegetative state.” No one expects Bobby to keep the little girl. But can he handle losing Nia and what all is left of her through her child?

Critical Analysis
This short work of realistic fiction starts out on the path of teenage pregnancy, and takes you rapidly to a whole other dimension of human choices. Structured in a series of flashbacks, each chapter is titled simply ‘then’ or ‘now.’ Through these transitions, we see Bobby struggling as the sole caretaker of Nia, and dealing with the accompanying sleep deprivation, planning, and lowering of grades that are a result of suddenly becoming a father. Bobby and Nia are two normal teenagers. Bobby enjoys hanging out with friends while Nia is studious. However, two come from very different backgrounds and their histories are as different as night and day. Slowly, like a picture coming into focus, Johnson reveals the events that lead Bobby down this unexpected path. It is no surprise that Nia wants to find the baby a home. And all goes according to plan. Until Johnson hits us with a completely unexpected whammy. Nia is brain dead. Despite society’s taboos, despite the reluctance of Nia’s family and Bobby’s own family to help him, Bobby makes a decision about the baby that no one can alter.

Review Excerpts
School Library Journal –Angela Johnson's Printz Award-winning novel (S & S, 2003) is perfectly suited to the audiobook medium, and Khalipa Oldjohn narrates this first person tale with poignant authenticity of tone and pacing. At 16, Bobby struggles to be a father to his newborn daughter while keeping up with school, maintaining his boyhood friendships, and trying to live up to his parents' expectations. Told in alternating passages of "Now" and "Then," the back-story that has brought Bobby to this point falls steadily but deliberately into place, with the revelation of why Bobby is a single father arriving only near the very end. In spite of its brevity, the story is complex and satisfying. Bobby is both boy and man, responsible and overwhelmed, near panic and able to plan an intelligent and loving future for Feather, the daughter he adores and nurtures. In audio format, this story can readily be shared in just a class period or two and will grab listeners immediately, making it an ideal subject for class discussion. It will also be instantly popular for leisure reading outside of school.–Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA School Library Journal, A Reed Business Information Publication
BookList-Bobby, the teenage artist and single-parent dad in Johnson's Coretta Scott King Award winner, Heaven (1998), tells his story here. At 16, he's scared to be raising his baby, Feather, but he's totally devoted to caring for her, even as she keeps him up all night, and he knows that his college plans are on hold. In short chapters alternating between "now" and "then," he talks about the baby that now fills his life, and he remembers the pregnancy of his beloved girlfriend, Nia. Yes, the teens' parents were right. The couple should have used birth control; adoption could have meant freedom. But when Nia suffers irreversible postpartum brain damage, Bobby takes their newborn baby home. There's no romanticizing. The exhaustion is real, and Bobby gets in trouble with the police and nearly messes up everything. But from the first page, readers feel the physical reality of Bobby's new world: what it's like to hold Feather on his stomach, smell her skin, touch her clenched fists, feel her shiver, and kiss the top of her curly head. Johnson makes poetry with the simplest words in short, spare sentences that teens will read again and again. The great cover photo shows the strong African American teen holding his tiny baby in his arms.
Publishers Weekly-In this companion novel, Johnson's fans learn just how Bobby, the single father for whom Marley baby-sits in Heaven, landed in that small town in Ohio. Beginning his story when his daughter, Feather, is just 11 days old, 16-year-old Bobby tells his story in chapters that alternate between the present and the bittersweet past that has brought him to the point of single parenthood. Each nuanced chapter feels like a poem in its economy and imagery; yet the characters—Bobby and the mother of his child, Nia, particularly, but also their parents and friends, and even newborn Feather—emerge fully formed. Bobby tells his parents about the baby ("Not moving and still quiet, my pops just starts to cry") and contrasts his father's reaction with that of Nia's father ("He looks straight ahead like he's watching a movie outside the loft windows"). The way he describes Nia and stands by her throughout the pregnancy conveys to readers what a loving and trustworthy father he promises to be. The only misstep is a chapter from Nia's point of view, which takes readers out of Bobby's capable hands. But as the past and present threads join in the final chapter, readers will only clamor for more about this memorable father-daughter duo—and an author who so skillfully relates the hope in the midst of pain.
Kirkus Reviews-"The rules: If she hollers, she is mine. If she needs to be changed, she is always mine. In the dictionary next to 'sitter,' there is not a picture of Grandma. It's time to grow up. Too late, you're out of time. Be a grown-up." Sixteen-year-old Bobby has met the love of his life: his daughter. Told in alternating chapters that take place "then" and "now," Bobby relates the hour-by-hour tribulations and joys of caring for a newborn, and the circumstances that got him there. Managing to cope with support, but little help, from his single mother (who wants to make sure he does this on his own), Bobby struggles to maintain friendships and a school career while giving his daughter the love and care she craves from him at every moment. By narrating from a realistic first-person voice, Johnson manages to convey a story that is always complex, never preachy. The somewhat pat ending doesn't diminish the impact of this short, involving story. It's the tale of one young man and his choices, which many young readers will appreciate and enjoy.
School Library Journal-Brief, poetic, and absolutely riveting, this gem of a novel tells the story of a young father struggling to raise an infant. Bobby, 16, is a sensitive and intelligent narrator. His parents are supportive but refuse to take over the child-care duties, so he struggles to balance parenting, school, and friends who don't comprehend his new role. Alternate chapters go back to the story of Bobby's relationship with his girlfriend Nia and how parents and friends reacted to the news of her pregnancy. Bobby's parents are well-developed characters, Nia's upper-class family somewhat less so. Flashbacks lead to the revelation in the final chapters that Nia is in an irreversible coma caused by eclampsia. This twist, which explains why Bobby is raising Feather on his own against the advice of both families, seems melodramatic. So does a chapter in which Bobby snaps from the pressure and spends an entire day spray painting a picture on a brick wall, only to be arrested for vandalism. However, any flaws in the plot are overshadowed by the beautiful writing. Scenes in which Bobby expresses his love for his daughter are breathtaking. Teens who enjoyed Margaret Bechard's Hanging on to Max (Millbrook, 2002) will love this book, too, despite very different conclusions. The attractive cover photo of a young black man cradling an infant will attract readers.

Connections
Family Interview
Ask students to briefly tell this story to a family member. Ask a family member if they have experienced a situation where they experienced a problem, big or small, thought they knew how to take care of it, and then it ended up being solved in a life-changing way. Students can write a short story about the interview from their family. Those who wish to read them can share.

Vote
Pretend all the students in your class are now Bobby. They have just learned of Nia’s permanent condition. Have students say what they would do and to give at least three reasons for it. Be sure to state there is no right or wrong answer. Depending on your group of students, this might be done as an individual, written assignment.

Mistake Research Project
Discuss with students how Nia and Bobby felt that the pregnancy was a mistake. Explain to students mistakes happen to everyone and it is how we go forward that shows our character. Have students research and find at least 5 influential people in the history of the world who made mistakes but came through their mistakes. Suggestion: Insist that the person must be known from the 1980’s or previously. This will force students to look beyond Britney Spear’s marriage to Kevin Federline and Paris Hilton’s sex tape. Students can make a brief power point presentation to include all five ‘mistakers.’ If possible, present these for a few weeks during morning announcements to share them with the entire school.