Trouble: A memoir

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The side character friends were really enjoyable but not as developed as I'd have liked. I would have loved to see a scene where Hannah and Anj discussed their former friendship and falling out after she had that epiphany about how toxic her relationship with Katie had been compared to Anj There’s no question Schmidt writes from a wealth of life experience. When he writes about lawyers, he knows about lawyers. When he writes about snobby prep schools, he knows about snobby prep schools. I could go on and on. Schmidt is strong in pretty much all phases of the game as he weaves a memorable tale of forgiveness and redemption.

I started reading “Trouble” to see if she’d like it and thought it was really well written. I’m not sure if YD books are allowed to get away with a more implausible plots than say an adult book, but overall, despite the unlikely coincidences that happen throughout the book, the plot kept my interest to the point where I read rather than do other things I should have been doing and finished it in under a week. (Yes, YD but I’m a slow reader.) And while it may seem that a romance might be imminent for our two main characters, that isn’t what this story is about. Instead both have much more important things to think about. And you’re going to be surprised by this… but I loved that about the story. Instead these two focus on building a true friendship. He could see pink and white blossoms in nearby orchards, and farther away, the brief yellow of the daffodils, so bright they looked as if Van Gogh had just come from them with his paint-brush still wet in his hand" (pg 108)Despite the obvious consequences of Hannah’s unplanned pregnancy, Trouble manages to be sex-positive. It is brutally honest when Hannah confides in us that she wants sex: “This last week or so has been UNbearable. I have never been so horny in all my life, and I think it might kill me if I don’t have sex soon.” More than that, however, this sex drive is by Hannah, for Hannah. Too frequently, women’s sexuality in media is an object of male desire—women are sexy for men, want sex for the benefit of a male viewpoint character. When Hannah refers to being “on the prowl” or “within perving distance” or otherwise discusses her body and her needs, she’s affirming that she wants sex for her own sake. There were people besides just Aaron who stood by Hannah when she got outed. She had other friends.

I adored all the characters! Trouble is told with 2 POVs, and I cared about each of the characters completely equally. I was really rooting for them all the way, and I found their story so captivating. I was hooked throughout the whole book, and found it really hard to put down, because of how much I just wanted everything to be okay! They had so much depth, and were so complex. Everything became too real, so I just didn't want the book to end! However, I think it does everyone a dis-service when authors are straight up unthinking and irresponsible with how they write teens. The kids can be blindly ignorant but if you’re portraying parental figures as caring and involved and responsible, then you know, they should actually act that way. One of my fascinations with Northern Ireland in the 1970s and 80s is how it became a place where different rules applied, where reality itself seemed up for grabs. Nowhere was this more the case than the “Provisional Republic” of South Armagh, AKA Bandit Country, with its handmade “sniper at work” signs and its community militias all surveyed by the watchtowers and helicopters of the British army. Toby Harnden’s book is a compulsively fascinating tour of this alternative universe.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.”)

It’s super meaningful, and has so many brilliant messages for you to take away. There’s some pretty heavy themes in the second half of the book, but they were dealt with so well, and the book was still kept light and enjoyable. These dark feelings a character had were really important, and weren’t glorified in any way. It was real, dark, yet uplifting because of how well they were dealt with. He doesn't stand slut-shaming or any kind of agression against a girl, he reads a lot and he's so damn sweet to accpet being a fake father.

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Nevertheless, I greatly appreciate Pratt’s depiction of Hannah’s sex and romance life. Not only does she capture Hannah’s voice with the first-person narration, but she also manages to say a lot about the way young women in our society begin to perceive themselves during adolescence:

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.So many threads come together spectacularly in the last quarter of the book -- at this point the book really hits it's stride and the emotion and gut-punches are real and beautiful and balanced with ache and belonging and horror and hope. And the ending was just fantastic (although I could happily have gone on reading what happens next...) Despite my quibbles, I thought this was a very good book, and would recommend it to older readers who enjoy reading twists on more controversial topics. The last part was directed not at Henry but at the dog, who had come to sniff Henry's father to see if he might be at all interesting. I found it problematic. Maybe I’m too old. But I just don’t want to read books that reinforce negative ideas. Readers deserve better. As characters, Hannah and Aaron deserved better. It was weird about consent. The line about ‘no-one can make me do anything. Least of all that’ fell squarely into victim-blaming territory. It was weird about promiscuity. It was sometimes ok for people to badmouth it and other times it wasn’t. Then we find out that Jay was the first guy Hannah slept with it and there was only what, two, others after. So she wasn’t actually that fond of sleeping around? And somehow that changed how people saw her situation? Idk it was weird.