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Summary: Take the Trouble to Read This Book
Review: I picked up Girls in Trouble then couldn't put it down. The captivating characters swept me away on an emotional journey that I would gladly take again and again. Caroline Leavitt is a powerful storyteller.
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Summary: Moving and tender
Review: Caroline Leavitt has such a gift for getting her readers right into the skins of her characters. Beginning with the opening scene of Anne's birth, written so vividly that your muscles will clench, to the final scene of acceptance and forgiveness, the reader will experience the story from every participant's viewpoint. Every character in the story is a complete human being, with all the human flaws and gifts - one moment you want to shake them, the next to comfort them. I've never been involved in an adoption, but after reading this book, I feel that I have had a glimpse of the best and the worst that adoptions can offer. This is a wonderful read.
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Summary: Wonderful
Review: Caroline Leavitt's latest book is a heartfelt exploration of what it means to be a parent. What's so satisfying about this book is the way it explores the issues of motherhood, adoption, and identity from the child's perspective as well as the parents' -- in fact, her protagonist encompasses both perspectives, as she is a child who becomes a mother, and then a mother who is bereft of her child. Leavitt takes an emotionally fraught subject and renders it with compassion, so that the drama is never sentimental or maudlin, but realistic, thoughtful, and sometimes heartbreaking. I loved it. Andrea Buchanan
Author of _Mother Shock: Loving Every (Other) Minute of It_ (Seal Press)
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Summary: Caroline Leavitt has done it again.
Review: I'm always excited when I hear that a writer whose work I respect is coming out with a new novel. But I'm also concerned, because there's that challenge of measuring up to former excellence. After reading Caroline Leavitt's COMING BACK TO ME (and four of her earlier books), I wondered if she could work her magic again. Trust me, GIRLS IN TROUBLE is a beautifully written novel. Thanks to Leavitt's artistry, I felt her characters, felt that I was living their grief and joy, betrayal and resolution. I was especially caught up in the stages of Sara's life, from sensitive and intelligent teenager to a woman struggling to come to terms with her decisions and their painful consequences. Anyone who reads this important novel will want to take Sara by the hand and guide her safely along the rocky path she has chosen.
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Summary: completely engaging
Review: Life is never simple, is it? That's what Sara finds out in this complex, but oh-so-realistic look at an unintended pregnancy, an adoption plan, and all the unexpected results. Other reviewers have suggested this as a book for teens, but I think it has great resonance for adults as well. Very real, very heartfelt.
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Summary: Leavitt infuses the ordinary with magic
Review: After reading Girls in Trouble, no one will ever view the dilemma and consequences concerning teen pregnancy and adoption the same again!
Leavitt's genius is about taking ordinary people, the kind that might live next door to us or perhaps live in our own families, and make us listen to how they feel and "magically" feel their feelings along with it!! This ability that Leavitt possesses, which I discovered way back from her very first novel, is what separates good writers from great writers.... Leavitt is a great artist. She portrays life and presents sides that none of us could ever think of..she is the voice of all of us!
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Summary: Caroline Leavitt does it again! Fantastic use of characters.
Review: What surprised me about Leavitt's novel "Girls In Trouble" was the surprising complexity of all the characters. Every time I thought I knew what someone was going to do, or thought I knew where the story was headed, she took me by surprise. Only thing I could have lived without was the section where Sara is a catalog copywriter--I'm a copywriter and proud of it!
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Summary: She's done it again!
Review: I enjoyed Caroline Leavitt's new book & was pulled in by the characters & the decisions they were forced to make. This book made me think of what I would do if faced with similar circumstances. I am a Leavitt fan & look forward to a lifetime of reading her wonderful writing.
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Summary: A must read for teen girls and prospective adoptive parents
Review: Caroline Leavitt's compelling novel tells the story of a young honor student, Sara, whose hopes for a bright future dim when she falls for a troubled young man and winds up pregnant. She gives her baby up for adoption and the couple who adopt the baby also welcome Sara into their lives opting for an "open adoption." But try as they might it's a bittersweeet situation for all involved. The novel explores the lives of the characters well into the future as the adopted baby girl becomes a young woman. The author has an uncanny ability to get into the character's thoughts and feelings with unflinching honesty. Throughout the novel we see the situation from everyone's point of view including that of Sara's disappointed and heartbroken parents. I recommend this book especially for teenaged girls because the tragic consequences of teen love are so explicitly detailed. But it's a book that any woman can relate to. For me, it was enlightening but at the same time it took me back to feelings I'd long forgotten I had. This is an engrossing and moving story that you won't soon forget.
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Summary: Completely aborbing and riveting
Review: I was intrigued by Caroline Leavitt's new novel, "Girls in Trouble," from the very first page. Once again, she has created real characters with a real story to tell. I sympathized with all of them--the couple adopting the baby, and also the birth mother, who as a teenager had to make the horrible choice of giving up her baby for adoption. When a writer is so talented that she can make the reader forget about his or her own life for awhile, you know that the writing is truly remarkable. By the time I finished the novel, I felt as though I had been a part of these people's lives. With grace and skill, Ms. Leavitt has created a memorable, touching, and utterly unforgettable story, and I highly recommend it!
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