Title: Girls Like Us
Author: Randi Pink
Genre: YA, historical
Rating: 3 out of 5

Georgia, 1972.
Izella and her sister Ola do everything just as their mother, a very religious woman, tells them. Cooking, cleaning, serving…and most of all, staying out of trouble and not getting pregnant. Except Ola didn’t listen to that last one, and now Izella must get her out of trouble somehow.

Their neighbor, Missippi, is also pregnant, through no fault of her own—and she’s too young to understand what the ramifications are. When her father sends her to Chicago to a woman who will take care of her until she has the babies, she meets Sue, also pregnant and the daughter of a pro-life senator.

Four different girls. Four different stories. All facing the same issue.

This book was not what I thought it would be. It’s rougher than I would like not, not fully polished, and while it’s about an emotional topic, I never felt an emotional connection with any of the characters. I found Izella and Ola basically unlikable, although I did like Missippi and Sue. The sisters’ choices show their ignorance of reality—perhaps due to their almost-cloistered upbringing—while Missippi is a character I felt sorry for, making the best of a horrible situation. Sue, on the other hand, is full of great motives, but zero follow-through. She talks a good game, but her rebellion vanishes in the face of opposition.

Randi Pink lives in Birmingham, Alabama. Girls Like Us is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Feiwel & Friends via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

This book is about a woman’s right to choose, a timely issue that should be written about and discussed more. It follows the lives of different girls who are affected by unplanned pregnancies in 1972, and ends in the present day/future.

I wanted to like this book so much, but ultimately it didn’t read like YA. It didn’t have much dialogue and was pretty dry for teenage readers. It was also inconsistent, starting as a slow-paced historical fiction novel and ending dramatically and abruptly in the future/present-day. The chapters were long, but there were two supershort (less than one page) ones that felt awkwardly thrown together. There was also a plot line involving the character Mississippi that wasn’t fully addressed.

Overall, this book does show that a woman’s right to choose affects everyone, regardless of background. The storylines just weren’t properly executed.

Full disclosure- I received an advanced reader’s copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for honest review.

"Girls Like Us" tackles the topic of teenage pregnancy in the early 1970s by creating a cast of characters who either are pregnant or directly involved with the girl who is pregnant (such as Izella whose sister Ora is the pregnant girl). These girls are African American with one exception of Sue, a white Vietnam war protestor. This novel gives a glimpse into the historical context, social norms of the time/place and the stigmas young women were subjected to when they found out they were pregnant. The book does discuss sexual assault (off the page), abortion, and reproductive rights especially in the flash forward at the end of the book when it imagines a present day scenario of Roe v. Wade being repealed. It is a book for older teenagers (versus middle school).

dnf @ 20%. this title was really promising, but the subject matter plus the awkward writing style just didn't work for me personally, however, it is a really important book, and i can still see my library buying this, even if i personally could not get through it. the subject matter is incredibly timely considering the world that we are currently living in, which wants to take over women's rights to their own bodies left and right. it's just a 'it's not you, it's me' thing with this book.

Topical and accessible, giving a historical viewpoint on the topic not typically seen in YA literature. I appreciated the different backstories and outcomes, as well as those characters who were vividly portrayed. I also liked the final section, which brought things even closer to readers today. There was something a bit... unpolished maybe about the writing and abrupt about the endings, but perhaps this is meant to indicate the ongoing battle over the issue.

Girls Like Us follows four teenage girls during the 70's who are all dealing with pregnancy. An important historical fiction novel about pregnant teens and how they were treated prior to Roe vs. Wade.

I ultimately did like this book and the message it conveyed, but I think it will be difficult for teen readers to relate to. Some of the language was challenging, and it took a long time for everything to weave together. A good choice for strong readers, but not one with massively wide appeal.

I really enjoyed this book right up until the very last chapter and there it lost me. That last chapter seemed like it had been written by another person or perhaps by the same person at a very different and hurried time of their life. That last chapter seemed to be nearly ridiculous. I didn't :"buy" into any of the directions that life would have led these people, their children and grandchildren. When your mother is a 14 year old child with very little support and a background of poverty, it's not very likely your profession in life would be what Easy's profession was. And a Harvard hopeful just simply does not have time to spend hour after hour after hour blogging and being a social media queen. But if you don't read that last chapter, it is a terrific book and I recommend it. The main characters are well developed and the twists and turns of the stories of the young women are sensitively told and will hold your attention.

A timely novel, telling stories of young women who are victims of others, their own choices, and the times the live in. A deeply moving and appropriate book at a time when women’s bodies are being regulated.
Ola and Eliza live with their mother Evangeline who is religious and prides Hesiod in raising Christian girls who are prepared to be good wives. She does charity for anyone she can, feeds everyone, and even visits the girl that everyone else looks down upon, Mississippi. When younger Eliza realizes her Ola is pregnant by her veteran boyfriend, who is suffering from severe PTSD, she scrambles to save her sister from terrible future.
Mississippi is fourteen, pregnant, and lives in a small unkept home. She has a kind father who drives a truck and gone for weeks. She’s never had a mother to show her how to keep a home or even take care of herself. She is a true innocent who really couldn’t tell you how she is in this situation. She just lives for the days when Evangeline comes with cheese grits and she has something besides biscuits to eat.
Sue is heartfelt protestor of war and conflict. She is also the daughter of senator who supports Vietnam war. When she become pregnant by her privileged boyfriend, and comes home for solace, she discovers more to herself and where she comes from.

I really enjoyed reading about this time period as fiction. I had read a book that looked at how most girls of this time weren't given a choice and simply sent away to these houses to give birth, but it was a lot more powerful to read it in fiction more. Sad, but also beautiful, and then ending was exactly what I needed. Definitely an important book for teens to read so they understand how far we've come and what we're up against.

This book follows the stories of 4 pregnant girls in 1972 America. This was before I came along, so I had to look up some of the references and songs, to better understand the story. But what happened to these girls in the time before Roe vs.Wade and how are they all connected? What was it like in America before we had the right to decide what to do with our own bodies? This is a beautiful story of friendship, with girls of all different backgrounds, that will make you appreciate the freedoms we have, as well as family and friends,

I read Girls Like Us by Randi Pink, due to be published October 29, 2019, through the courtesy of NetGalley.com.

I liked this book as historical fiction because it made the characters realistic. It forayed into things with which I am unfamiliar and told the story well enough for me to be interested as well as engaged. I'll admit that at first I was confused by the hopping around of characters, but that soon dissipated when I realized it as a storytelling technique for how the girls were intertwined.

The author created characters in which I was invested. I believed them. I felt for them.

I would have given the book 5 stars if it weren't for the ending. It was not a bad ending, but it was jarring. I understood the point of the ending; however, after reading 91% of the book in a different time, the last 9% was more message or platform than story. I couldn't keep myself from comparing the three witches from Witches of Eastwick with the three grandmothers in this ending. It felt more surreal than real.

Regardless of the in-your-face message at the end, I still think this book is a good way to make an important point: women's choice. This book will make a good jumping off for many conversations about the topic of abortion, teenage pregnancy, and women's right to choose.

Really interesting book about four teens who get pregnant. Interesting connections across all the story. A quick and nicely-paced read. However, I wouldn't classify this as YA. I'd give it to adults, but the only thing "YA" about it is that the characters were teens.

I like the message of this book but felt the author (or maybe the publisher?) felt it was too subtle, so the last chapter seems like a very clunky exposition and cut some mod the good will I had for the story.

I like that, in the story, the characters are not 100% perfect, that they have realistic angers and insecurities, that they make both good and bad decisions.

Given that this is a book about teen pregnancy pre-Roe, the way the pregnancies are judged or hidden or ended seemed realistic (though horrifying). Also, sadly, things haven’t changed that much and seem to be getting a lot worse nowadays.

I was enjoying the way the plot suggests that choice is important without hitting the reader over the head with it, but then the last chapter pretty much picked up the hammer and messed it up.

Overall, a good story of women supporting women, which I always love.

I really enjoyed the inclusiveness and positivity that this book provided. I felt the girl power throughout it.

This was one of the most enjoyable YA books I have read in a while. I think this book is amazing, and my only complaint is that I wanted to know more. The story takes place predominately in the time at the end of the Vietnam war, and it follows the stories of several pregnant teenage girls. The chapters switch perspectives, and each character was lively and unique. Really, almost every character in the novel was enjoyable, except the obvious villains. However, my favorite is the relationship between Sippi and "best friend Sue."

In addition to being interesting and full of surprises, the novel makes some really important and real points about women's rights and the right to pro choice. I do not think the novel celebrates abortion at all, but rather asks the question...what will happen to girls like us who are forced to have children we are unprepared to take care of? I downloaded and finished this book literally hours before we found out about Alabama's new decision, so the points in the novel are all the more pertinent now than they were just a few days ago.

Loved it. I would not hesitate to put it on my classroom bookshelf, and I will definitely look for more titles by this author.