Trouble by Non Pratt, 384 Pages

When I'm not working part-time at the library, I'm a high-school librarian and I taught high school English for the last three years, so I've been trying to read a decent amount of young adult fiction this summer. This was one such book, a debut novel by Non Pratt. It's written in two perspectives, that of 15-year-olds, Hannah and Aaron.

Hannah spends a lot of her time chasing or being chased by different boys. Sometimes the boys are single and sometimes they're not which gives her something of a shaky reputation at her school. Aaron has just started at Hannah's school after a bad experience at his last one forced him and his family to move. Hannah finds out she is pregnant early on in the story and as she won't tell who the father is, the school prepares to obliterate her already-shaky reputation. In steps Aaron who volunteers to play the role of the father to spare Hannah from embarrassment. She's unsure at first but, as they get to know each other, their friendship grows until Aaron's past comes to the forefront.

This was a decent read. I am always a bit nervous when I read something with back-and-forth perspectives as that's a method that is often done very poorly. However, I found both of these characters fairly interesting and the plot was engaging enough to keep me turning the pages.

One thing that did bother me was the tone of Hannah's voice. The author made her sound much older than a 15-year-old or at least anyone of that age I've ever known. It didn't ruin the book or anything but I do recall being distracted by it a few times throughout the reading.

You can often move through young adult novels pretty quickly and that can definitely be said about this book. It didn't take a long time to read but I didn't find myself completely bowled over when it was finished either.

2.5 out of 5 stars from Ethan