IN TROUBLE by Ellen Levine

We all like choices right?  To be able to say and do what we want when we want.  In Trouble takes on the subject of one of the toughest choices a women has...what to do when you get pregnant or find yourself "in trouble".  In Trouble takes place in the 1950's when the girls who found themselves "in trouble" were contending with getting sent to a home and being shamed by their families or attempting back alley abortions in the most heinous of conditions.  In today's times, girls who find themselves "in trouble" get to go onto MTV's real life drama 16 and Pregnant.  They become the center of attention and have a sort of stardom that still blows my mind.  Have things really changed that much in the last 50 years?  Are we really doing that big of an 180 flip, going from shaming the girls to making them stars? 

In Trouble is one of the rare finds in Young Adult Literature.   In Trouble  speaks to the struggles of so much more than the title suggests.  Levine weaves in dating, family relationships, school pressures and dating violence into a very compelling novel.   Levine has written an intense story that tackles some very tough subject matter.  Levine manages to do it in a way that emotionally resonated with me.  I had a hard time putting this book down because I began to care for the characters so deeply and wanted to see the outcome.   I think that this book speaks volumes about how young girls were treated in the 50's and, to a certain degree, how they still are.   Like Levine stated in the Author's Note, by quoting George Santayana:  "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

I highly recommend this book to both adults and the YA's.

I was able to read a galley of this book.  It will be available September 1st, 2011.