Kekla Magoon's latest book visits the all-too-common issue of teen pregnancy. Three girls all become pregnant the night of their senior prom in 2005. Magoon tells the story of those three babies, preparing for their own senior prom in 2024. A cast of narrators, Imani Jade Powers, Yinka Ladeinde, Krysta Gonzales, Victoria Connolly, Matt Bridges, and Andy Garcia, believably voices the characters.

The book revisits 2005 and then the present, reflecting on the years in between. The three teens from 2005 banded together for support, even though they weren't close friends in high school. Mina, Penny, and Sheryl even shared a house and child care before coming into their own as adults. Their children all tussle with big issues at prom time. Gender identity, the social norms and mores of their community, virginity, actual identity, and other topics demand the attention of their children, Blossom, Amber, and Cole.

Teens will love this one, especially those who are already fans of Magoon. Recommended for young adults and those who work with them.

Note: I received an advance audio copy through NetGalley.

I was provided this ALC for a TLC Book Tours Instagram feature tour. No review required.
Thank you TLC tours and Spotify for the gifted copy and for including me on this tour

This multi generational novel about six teenagers is epic. This book challenges, social norms, familiar, structural norms, and gives the reader a first-hand view into what it is like to be a teenager today and 18 years ago. Magoon laces her characters with relatability and boldness, that we all wish we had. I would love to see this adapted into a TV show or at least a miniseries. I will use excerpts from this book to contribute to a unit where students will answer the question “ where do our identities come from?”

This book may have just ignited a love of audiobooks. I thought the alternating timelines and six POVs would be overwhelming but I sunk into these characters, feeling and resonating with each one of them. This book deals with some heavy topics including sexual assault, abortion, consent, and the struggles of LGBTQA+ but is done with care.

I don’t have a lot of experience with audio books but I did love the individual narrators for each of the POVs.

My 5-star rating is well-deserved. I look forward to reading more of the author’s books.

Reading books with this type of representation, 25 years after having my daughter at 16, I am blown away by the accuracies of how real the experiences were documented. Being a teenage mother is never something that should be glamorized because you're dealing with individuals that believe they must have everything figured out in weeks. You learn as time goes by that parenting is a day-to-day process because even the best laid out plans go awry.

The author Kekla Magoon does a great job in showing how pregnancies with teenagers are often never planned, are the consequences of ineffective birth control and safety, and from terrible sexual assaults and rapes. Learning to move away from the shame and judgment that your family and/or society spews becomes a skilled act.

Through community and support, young girls and women can manage their pregnancies no matter if they choose birthing and keeping the baby, birthing and giving the baby up for adoption, and choosing to terminate the pregnancy altogether. These choices are not easy at all to make, especially when they will follow you the rest of your life. However, it is the beauty of choice that allows young girls and women the freedom to choose their own path.

I really enjoyed the Spotify audiobook and the narrators do a good job in distinguishing between the two different plot lines and characters during each one. The characters were brought to life in dynamic ways.

I think this audiobook is one that young adults should read/listen to because it is helpful, resourceful, and endearing. It requires a special kind of bravery to push past adversity and scorn of others when kindness and generosity cost them nothing at all.

Thank you to @spotify and @tlcbooktours for the gifted ALC. #keklamagoon #spotifyaudiobooks #PromBabies #YA

Prom Babies chronicles the experiences of three young women who conceive on the night of their prom in 2005, and the subsequent connection they form as a result of this shared circumstance. The story employs a non-linear narrative structure, alternating between two time periods: the past and eighteen years later. In the latter period, the three individuals who were born as a result of prom encounters are preparing for their own prom. The prevalence of individuals adopting distinct coping mechanisms to navigate their own histories and challenges is seen in both historical periods. Will Cole discover the truth about his biological father? Will Sheryl discover a suitable abode to claim as her own? Will pregnancy be a concern at this prom now that the Roe v Wade ruling has been overturned? Kekla Magoon crafts Prom Babies with a fervent commitment to activism, enlightening teenagers about contemporary issues, all the while guaranteeing a satisfying and uplifting conclusion to the novel.

My sole complaint was that the narrators did not accurately resemble the characters. The voices seemed somewhat disconnected.

This audiobook was so good and I was kind of surprised at how much I did like it. I think this is a great story to read/listen and discuss with teens as they deal with high school issues and pressures. It deals with some real life things. It shows that the issues teens face can be a repeated cycle if not discussed. I would personally suggest that parents read it first and then read and discuss with their teens so they are prepared for the discussion and possible questions from teens.

I especially loved how we went from past to present showing how the now parents had the same issues and how they decide to handle the situations with their now teens. Some handled it perfectly and some not so much. I loved how the story also shows different family dynamics with each teens. Such a great book!

I DNF’d this one pretty early on. Although I liked the narration, the storyline is just too “young” for me. I am sure this would speak to a younger audience though.

Thank you anyway to Spotify for the #gifted audiobook and Netgalley, Henry Holt and Co, and the author.

Unfortunately I felt like this was the book version of an after school special. It took an important subject and made it corny with how unnatural the dialog was.

A Tale for the Times! This story has two layers because it is multigenerational. The aforementioned layering lends readers the luxury of witnessing how the present, actions and logic, is informed by the past for some of the characters. This was a very thought-provoking story that handled a gamut of heavy topics in a relatively light manner. I would love to see this adapted into a Netflix series. I only subtracted a star because I would love to see a sequel; and, more character development.

There were a lot of good parts to this book but also several things that didn’t work well for me. The idea for this book was intriguing, and the way that so many issues were brought up and discussed was really good. On the other hand, there were so many characters, but none of them felt like they were fully developed characters that really grabbed the reader’s emotions. Additionally, I listened to the audiobook version, and while the narrators were great, the storyline was hard to follow. It took me almost half of the book to figure out which characters went with which timeline. All that being said, my favorite part of the book was the ending, and I would recommend the print version of this instead of the audio.

The book is told from two alternating timelines. It follows three teens in 2005 and their subsequent children in 2024 on prom night. Some heavy themes dealt with in the book include teen pregnancy, abortion, birth control, foster care, sexual assault, substance abuse, LGBTQA+ struggles, gender expectations, the politics of consent and adoption.

I listened to this book on audio. Each of the six characters got their own narrator. And let me tell you, these narrators hit it out of the park. They really made the story for me, not only bringing it alive, but making the characters stand out from one another.

I enjoyed this book immensely and give it 3.5 stars. There were some unresolved aspects to the plot.

This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Kekla Magoon, Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley. Thank you.

4.25/5

This was an interesting and enjoyable read. I feel like this book was able to accurately portray a range of tough topics: pregnancy, abortion, assault, etc. This is a great coming of age book for teens learning or dealing with those topics.

Thank you NetGalley and Spotify Audiobooks for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

It's almost prom season and this is the perfect story for older teens. #gifted by @henryholtbooks @henryholtkids

Prom Babies tries - and ultimately succeeds - in tackling the many sides of teen sex and pregnancy. Set 18 years apart, it follows 6 teens in total. 3 teens from 2005 who wind up pregnant following prom and their 3 children preparing for their own prom in 2024.

The story tackles many facets around sexuality and teen sex including abortion, teen pregnancy, gender norms, "no means no," raising a child when you are a child, and sadly, rape. It's a lot for one book to cover, but because of the diversity of characters, it accomplishes its goal of giving a full picture of teen sex in a modern, thoughtful world.

Why I Love it: Embedded in the fun prom of it all, are real lessons and thought-provoking scenarios for teens considering having sex themselves. I would 100% recommend this book as an opening for parents and older teens to discuss these matters if they haven't already.

Prom Babies is the story of 3 girls who get pregnant on their prom night in 2005, and the bond they create over this shared experience. The novel flashes back and forth between then and eighteen years later when these 3 "prom babies" are getting ready to go to their own prom. Each dealing with their own ways to cope with their history and hardships is prevalent in both time frames. Will Cole find out about his father? Will Sheryl find a place to call her own? Will pregnancy be an issue at this prom now that Roe v Wade has been turned over? Kekla Magoon writes Prom Babies with an activist heart, educating teens on the issues today, while ensuring the novel has a feel good ending.

Prom Babies felt like a book version of a lifetime movie I would have watched in my teens and absolutely loved. And I mean that in the best way possible!

I loved how each individual had a different, but mostly realistic, experience with an unexpected teen pregnancy. This is a great book for teens of any age. I love how it examines the different perspectives on sex, consent and a persons right to choose. I especially liked the emphasis that pro choice did indeed mean a woman's right to choose, not just a woman's right to terminate. I think of all of the characters storylines, I would have loved to see/learn more about Amber.

This was an excellent YA novel that explores a serious topic in a fun and heartwarming way.

The subject matter of the story is important, but it comes off as pretty preachy. Discussion between characters is unnatural and forced at points where they're talking about reproductive rights and feminist issues. I get that this is for teens, but teens have the highest cheese-meter of all. I did enjoy it, but I hope the author develops a more natural voice on future projects.

I really enjoyed this! It was really interesting seeing the moms' prom experiences then and their kids' prom experiences now. Also, that prank at the end was epic!

This was a great multigenerational story. Usually when a book has a lot of POVs it can get super confusing. This one had 6 and it didn't get as confusing as I thought it would. I loved each character's POV and seeing what they were each going through. Cole in particular was really interesting, given that he was the only guy in the group and he was the product of a rape. I loved how consent was a big part of his story as well as the rest of the characters' POVs. It was an important aspect to the story.
With the past POVs, aka the moms, we got to see how each of them dealt with getting pregnant from a different type of relationship, couple in love, casual hookups, and rape. Each of them considers abortion and we get to see all of their thought processes as they way the pros and cons of both options. I liked that because having an abortion or having the baby are both difficult decisions especially as a teenager and each girl had a very different perspective on their pregnancy because of how they got pregnant. SO this book definitely explores a lot of different things.
With the present POVs, aka the kids, we get more discussions about sex, sexuality, consent, sexism, heteronormative expectations. So many different topics to explore. It was a different vibe than the moms' because moms' POVs were all about their pregnacies but the kids were about relationships, taking down the patriarchy, consent, and learning about themselves.
Now that I've talked about the good of the story lets talk about the not so good. Having 6 POVs in a 300 page book is not enough time to explore everything. I don't like long ass books but with 6 POVs there is just so much to explore and unpack. I wanted to know so much more about all of the characters.

audiobook specific: I loved that each character got their own narrator. They all did a fantastic job, except for cole's narrator. He wasn't terrible but I did struggle with him a bit. At times he spoke in a cadence that seems a bit computer like. He didn't sound like a computer but just his pacing was off as times. As I said in the beginning of my review, the 6 POVs didn't get too confusing for me. I cannot say for certain that that was because of the writing or because I listened to the audiobook with 6 different narrators.

Content warning: teen pregnancy, rape, sexual assault, discussions of abortion, sexism

A really well written dual timeline YA novel with a diverse cast of characters who each experience a Prom Date pregnancy. An excellent exploration of sexual assault, consent, women's rights through the lens of two generations of teens - the single mothers of the early 2000s and their grown children in the present day. Great on audio with a full cast, this really should be a must read for teens before prom with great life lessons! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!