I have a confession: I feel mean writing the review I'm about to write.

I have a feeling that Delinsky is one of those bestselling authors who is bound by contract to produce a book every year (or at least every other year). The books sell because the fans are loyal, but the quality of the writing suffers.

The premise is compelling. Three teenage girls, best friends since childhood, have become pregnant. They have taken a pact to get pregnant and raise their children themselves, sans the fathers. One of the girls is the daughter of their small town high school principal, herself a never married single mother. Coincidentally, the principal was the same age as her daughter when she became pregnant. The pregnancies begin rumors, and the principal's detractors accuse her of not being a good mother and perhaps not the right role model for the teenagers. Timely, provocative, thought-provoking topics.

Here's the rub. The writing quality isn't very good. Maybe it's my pickiness as a writer, but the prose seemed second rate. Too much backstory dumped in the first few pages, too much telling rather than showing, that sort of thing. On the first page, I wanted to begin rewriting the story. After a few pages, I started skimming, not reading the words so much as picking up the pieces of the plot. After fifty pages, I skipped to the back, read the book club discussion questions (those always tell a great deal about the plot) and the ending.

It's a shame because I think the author is probably capable of better work than this. I had a similar experience with another novel of Delinsky's and didn't finish it either. Disappointing.