Rating: 
Summary: I loved this book
Review: From the minute I picked it up, I couldn't put down Girls in Trouble. The characters grabbed me right away and I cared about them so much that I couldn't wait to see what happened. Teen pregnancy, open adoption and the complexity of family relationships are dealt with in a realistic but sensitive and caring way that helps us understand there aren't always (or maybe never) easy answers.
Rating:
Summary: It's about time
Review: It's about time I ran across some books that are actually enjoyable to read. So many that I've bought lately have totally bombed! But that's not the case with this book--"Girls in Trouble." What a refreshing tale, told with great care and panache. Would also recommend two other books that actually make sense, will keep you riveted, and are well written: "Coming Back to Me," and "The Bark of the Dogwood" by Jackson McCrae.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, compelling storytelling
Review: I love the structure of the novel--it begins in the mid-80s, then jumps ahead 16 years. Nuanced and beautifully written. Only criticism is one small anachronism: No cell phones in the late 80s.
Rating:
Summary: Emotions From All Angles
Review: Ms. Leavitt's book brought many characters and their emotions to light. Many aspects of relationships: Mother-child bonding, unwed teen girl, open adoptions were just some issues explored. The cast of characters came alive and made for a lively, engaging and emotional read.
Rating:
Summary: A book to cherish
Review: There is no contemporary writer of fiction more compassionate or clear-eyed than Caroline Leavitt. This book is one to savor, one to mull over and celebrate.
Rating:
Summary: Girl's In Trouble
Review: A wonderful book! A thoughtful and wide ranging examination of the choices facing all parties to an unwanted pregnancy. The characters stay with you long after the pages close.
Rating:
Summary: girls in trouble
Review: i am so impressed with caroline leavitt's newest "book girls in trouble." she has taken a very touchy contemporary subject and handled it with superb delicacy and sensitivity. every person who has ever had to give up a child for adoption or adopted a child should read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A fast, engaging read
Review: This is a book you will tear through. I was drawn in from the start, and my interest never waned. Sara, pregnant at 15, gives birth at 16 and opts for an open adoption. The adoptive parents, Eva and George, are, predictably, more charmed by Sara before the birth. Once baby Anne enters the picture, Sara's presence becomes more of a burden. Sara's youth and confusion over her emotions and predicament lead her to make some questionable choices that drive a wedge into the open adoption. Leavitt makes some choices that I questioned. Years pass whenever it's narratively convenient, an unbelievable coincidence allows for characters to be reunited after more than a decade, some characters, most notably Sara's parents, are paper-thin. Still, Girls In Trouble is a character-driven novel worth reading because the characters doing the driving are ones you'll care a lot about.
Rating:
Summary: A Book to Read About Adoption (Open)
Review: This is a Novel but the characters have such strong person-
alities, you are drawn into the story.
Sara,fifteen years old an honor student,who falls for the
tough guy.The type of boy no mother wants her girl to date.
The adoptive parents, Eva and George who literally adopt
young Sara before her baby's birth,but whose feelings
change when they must deal with her strong emotions after
her daughters'birth.Jack and Abby,young Sara's parents,
who ache when they see their daughter hurt,and want her baby.
There are no enemies here. Just a lot of good people, who
while trying to do the right thing,manage to hurt each other.
Over the process of many years,Anne,the adopted baby
grows up,the open adoption having failed.The adoptive
parents moved away and somehow failed to tell Anne about her
adoption.
Anne is a teenager when she finds out her situation and
feels betrayed by all. This sets all the earlier problems in motion again.
However,the birth mom,Sara,is older and wiser.So are the
other people involved in Anne's drama.Although,Anne re-awakens
their pent up emotions.The earlier turbulance is handled
in a more mature way. This is a book you don't want to end.It would be great
to have a sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Nobody Does it Better
Review: Nobody writes about young love--that between a boy and girl, or a young girl an her illegitimate baby--better than Leavitt. We feel, rather than read, about Sara's attraction for Danny, and her headlong rush into first love. And Sara's attachment to their out-of-wedlock child is rendered in luminous prose sure to break your heart. I loved Leavitt's ability to see the story from all points of view. No villains here, but real people trying to make sense of the strange curveballs life has thrown them. Read it and weep.
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