♥sabrina♥ read and liked Lacey's review of Annie's Baby: The Diary of Anonymous, A Pregnant Teenager:

"I always find published diaries a little hard to swallow, because I think it's rare that real diaries have the sort of story arc that these stories often adhere to. About ten pages into this book, something about it felt very "off" -- the d...more I always find published diaries a little hard to swallow, because I think it's rare that real diaries have the sort of story arc that these stories often adhere to. About ten pages into this book, something about it felt very "off" -- the diary entries didn't sound like diary entries, and the teen author didn't sound like a teen. The narrator's infatuation with a new boy in her class--and her incredibly low opinion of herself--was so over-the-top that you just knew this was going to be some sort of after-school special cautionary tale. That's when I remembered hearing rumors that Go Ask Alice, also edited by Beatrice Sparks, wasn't a real diary. I did a bit of internet research and discovered that my gut instinct about Annie's Baby was right on -- it's not a real diary. And there is nowhere -- nowhere -- in the book where it is catalogued as fiction.

And this pisses me off to no end, that Dr. Sparks thinks she can make up whatever drivel she wants and then sell it as a "real teen's story." It's like she knows that she doesn't have the credibility to tell this cautionary tale as an adult -- but she's not willing to publish the story of a REAL teen mother, either. Because a real, live girl wouldn't tell it the way that Dr. Sparks WANTS it to be told.

All-in-all, this story reads like something straight of the the "Abstinence only" curriculum, complete with the girl feeling dirty and ashamed for having sex, being totally appalled by the thought of abortion, and feeling complete disdain for mothers who are on welfare. At the end of the book, she gives her baby up for adoption, after raising her for several months and realizing that she just can't cut it as a mom. This is the part that struck me as LEAST believable, since 97% of teen moms do keep their babies, and I doubt many of the remaining 3% give children up for adoption without making that decision during their pregnancy. But, seeing as this isn't a real-life story, Dr. Sparks thought that giving the baby up was the "best" option and since she was writing the damn thing herself, why not tie it up with neat hospital corners?

Boo for adults that lie to children.(less) "