JAY. Where to even start. Not only did he not support her pregnancy but he slept with his stepsister when SHE WAS ONLY 15!!! That's like double illegal, dude. I know he's written that way on purpose but I can't stand the guy There was no character development. None. While both characters issues are eventually brought to the surface, we never see them learn from them or behave differently than they did before. Plus, once all their baggage is out in the open the reader never sees the consequence of that. I wanted to see Aaron come to terms with his friends’ death and maybe make amends with Penny. I wanted to see the shit hit the fan at Hannah’s house when her family found out who the father really was. But nada. The revelation is all we get. SO. MUCH. FRIENDSHIP. This might have been one of the biggest ideas, and I loved it! It showed how much a true best friend can mean to us, and this was the aspect that really helped me. The platonic relationship between Hannah and Aaron made me realise so much about my own life, which was one fo the reasons I found this book so touching. It hit really close to home, and although this won't make it everyone's favourite book, I think it was really moving, and important for everyone.

Non Pratt also made the two voices distinct and full of life. Considering the POVs switched every few paragraphs it was both necessary and welcome. I've said before that I find British young adult contemporary novels to be much gritter than their American counterparts. Although I love the 'really cute' or 'really sad' contemporary novels that I tend to go for, Trouble is neither. It's a brilliantly written and wonderfully authentic and realistic novel to add to the top of the pile of this increasingly popular genre. It's also interesting to see just how different the two covers are. If cigarette smoke was removed from the cover for John Green's Looking for Alaska, I'd love to know what they'd make of sperm on the cover of Trouble! (I think it's a fantastic cover, by the way.). Trouble stands out because it does not shy away from the awkward, uncomfortable and often harsh reality of teenage life, but it's still funny and touching, with two endearing characters that you'll enjoy spending time with.The writing. The prose wasn't particularly memorable but it's worth mentioning that the two POVs were very distinct from each other. Hannah and Aaron's perspectives were so different. It really was like being in two separate minds. A lot of writers cannot pull this off. Hannah decides to confess who the real father is to her family, she comfrots Jay but doesn't want to. That's why she waits to get her family together and confesses. Trouble is an extremely fun, wonderfully British and compassionate novel with a serious side. I started to read Trouble shortly before attending the Walker Blogger Night, just to see what it was like, and before I knew it, I was dropping my current book and taking it to work with me. If you enjoy young adult contemporary, you will want to have Trouble on your shelves. Everyone will be talking about this year and you won't want to miss out. You find with this book you don't really connect with characters but you hear the, you listen to them, you hear their story which makes this a beautifully written and emotional novel to experience. If you know of anything similar in genre of this book. Please let me know. I want to hear people's stories like these to witness their happy endings. A book that makes me cry shows how truly amazing this author is. I need more and I can't wait to read Remix. Something entirely different. The classic – groundbreaking – fictional account of The Troubles (and so much more) based on the reign of terror of Protestant paramilitaries the Shankhill Butchers and written in a high, hallucinatory style that works to transform the being of Belfast itself. Published in 1994 as events were still unravelling, it’s an evisceration of the self-perpetuating nature of violence, and how it can become a performance, almost, in both the communities that foster it and in the way the media reports it. A profoundly important book.

However, with out spoiling it, I didn't like who the father turned out to be or how it was dealt with. Technically, Hannah falling pregnant at fifteen would be statutory rape, combine this with the father, would this realistically be ignored by the parents and not perused any further? There was, to my recollection, no mention of how the parents dealt with who the father was. For me, it took a book that could have been very realistic and made it less so. Marcy. There were other characters that I disliked more than her but she was the most underdeveloped. She embodied that typical villainess-queen-of-the-school-out-to-ruin-people's-lives-for-little-to-no-reason mean girl trope. She was even a model. Cliche much? That was kind of lazy writing on her part because Marcy was portrayed as basically all bad. There is not a single (sympathetic) mention of her being a victim of cheating, which she very much was. Told from both Aaron and Hannah’s prospective, we first meet Hannah who enjoys going out with friends and getting drunk every weekend. It’s clear that Hannah is trying to get over a boy because she gets drunk to distract herself and tries to find comfort in any other boy’s arms. But when Hannah discovers she’s pregnant – at fifteen – Hannah needs someone in her corner because once she tells her parents, she knows she’s going to be in trouble when she reveals who the real father is.I truly loved the eventual rallying of Hannah’s family upon hearing her news. Her relationship with her grandmother was such a wonderful part of her story. And Aaron’s relationship with the cranky Neville added some necessary levity to the overall story. One scene that totally didn't ring true and really bugged me was the courtroom "interrogation" of the witnesses: Why would Chay's lawyer laying out all the information that can convince anyone that Chay had every right to take revenge on Franklin, after being harassed for such a long time? All those questions serve as an exposition for the readers but it was done in a way that is not convincing at all. Set in the 1980s, TROUBLE is the story of Henry Smith, a middle school student growing up on the northern coast of Massachusetts in a large house which has been inhabited by his ancestors for 300 years. Henry's older brother, Franklin, and his sister, Louisa, both attend Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Preparatory High School in Blythbury-by-the-Sea, the town that has grown up around their ancestral home. Big brother Franklin is the golden boy, popular and athletic, who can do no wrong -- or at least that is how it seems at first glance.

Not only were the parents of both characters present in their lives, but they were supportive- not all the time- but they truly cared about their children's physical and mental health. I’m not one of those pearl-clutching adult readers of YA. I love to see real life situations portrayed in books for teens and I don’t care about thinking of the children or whatever. I expect young people to act like young people and that includes make less than perfect choices and mistakes and everything else. Nor do I think books have to teach lessons or guide kids in any particular direction. It had some good points. The author did a great job making the dialogue, social interactions and thought processes of the teenager characters realistic and relevant. There are countless people in the world actually like these characters. I often read YA where it feels like no-one on earth in any way resembles the characters we’re reading about. Of course, the fact it was set in an average area in the UK made it easier for my Irish self to relate to than some of the American stuff I read. Thanks to Trinja and Emily (both awarding Trouble 5 shining stars and fave reads of the year) for bringing this book to my attention :) The first let me see what the author was describing, the second is just a lovely way to say what is true. And comparing a book to a painting is a wonderful way to provide a visual image of what can be difficult to describe. Van Gogh's bright colors can still look freshly painted, but he never paints light without darkness, and this book is about learning to live with the darkness that is Trouble and discovering the light that is Grace.

Like all of Schmidt's books, Trouble is well-written, with lovely descriptions and excellent character voice. I'm not sure if it's just because I was purposefully looking for the descriptive passages, but Trouble's seem to be the best I've read in his books. Everything is so active and vibrant. I was definitely taking notes. I heard the author interviewed on NPR (WBUR?) for a more recently released YD book, “Okay for Now.” He sounded interesting and the book sounded good and I ended up buying both for my thirteen year old daughter. (She’s reading “The Hobbit” right now for school. I ask if it’s okay to read one of these books for school but she can’t. Today they take web based tests that go into some State database so kids can’t negotiate the approved list anymore with their teachers. Everything is decided by the all-knowing “Cloud.”) I appreciate the ambiguity, especially towards the end. Pratt leaves Hannah and Aaron’s relationship status up in the air. They are friends, yes. More than that? Hard to say. Maybe. Trouble’s ending really only marks the beginning of the next chapter in Hannah’s life (and the life of her new baby). Rather than providing a trite epilogue, Pratt firmly reminds us that life gives no assurances: Hannah is only fifteen; there is so much more that will happen to her, good and bad.