A blog to keep up on what's happening for teens at Brooks Memorial Library including: • new books • events • resources available • fun website suggestions • ... and more.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

A look back in history


Here’s something different. It's called The Girls Who Went Away: the hidden history of women who surrendered children for adoption in the decades before Roe v. Wade, by Ann Fessler. It’s not a YA book, but it is a fascinating account of what happened to young women your age when they had an unplanned pregnancy. It might be hard for you to believe in this day and age, but girls who got pregnant often got sent away to “visit an aunt” for many months. It might have been an aunt, but more likely it was a "
home for unwed mothers."This book tells the tales of these women who got pregnant in high school or college and were forced to give their babies away. The stories are interspersed with some of the history of the times. It’s very readable and it will make you appreciate the options you now have. You will also be amazed to find out how very little sexual health education that your mothers and grandmothers got!