The Lit Report

by Sarah N. Harvey

Paperback, 2008

Status

Available

Call number

HAR

Description

Julia and Ruth have been unlikely best friends since they first met in Sunday school: Ruth was standing on the Bible-crafts table belting out "Jesus Loves Me." Now that they're a year away from graduation, they're putting the finishing touches on their getaway plans. But their dream of a funky big-city loft and rich, interesting older men is threatened when preacher's daughter Ruth goes to a wild party without studious Julia, and all hell breaks loose. Ruth gets pregnant; Julia gets creative. Determined to support her friend and stay on track for life after high school, Julia comes up with a plan that will require all her intelligence, compassion, ingenuity and patience. Drawing on some great (and some not-so-great) works of literature, Julia proves that you can learn a lot just by opening up a book.… (more)

Publication

Orca Book Publishers (2008), Edition: First Edition, 208 pages

User reviews

LibraryThing member francescadefreitas
When Julia's best friend Ruth gets pregnant, they concoct a plan to keep the pregnancy secret, but things go hilariously amok. This was a fun, quick read. Julia and Ruth are amusing characters, and while Julia's plan to deliver Ruth's baby herself is truly frightening, the friendship between the
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girls is lovely to watch. The relationships were nicely done - Julia and Ruth's, Julia and her mothers, and Julia and Boone - there is a sweetness to all these that I found endearing. Ruth is a constant observer, noting down her thoughts on the books she reads, the people around her, and wryly describes events that do and do not go to plan.
I had a few problems, the biggest being the plan to deliver Ruth's baby in secret - this is a horrifically dangerous idea, for both Ruth and the baby, and I was scared by how lightly it was treated by everyone involved. It didn't seem realistic to me that everyone the finally told would take it so calmly. Also, I couldn't quite fit Julia's weight loss into the rest of the story.
I really appreciated the contrasting religious characters, Ruth's pastor father with his nasty condemning attitude and Julia's religious mother who acts with compassion and kindness without a hint of judgement.
I'd give this to readers interesting in realistic fiction, romance, or funny stories. It might also be a good one for getting a reluctant reader interested in classic fiction.
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LibraryThing member meteowrite
This book was okay. Not so great I'd buy it for friends and give it as a gift, but good enough that I'd recommend it to a teen who'd enjoyed similar books. Julia has life planned out, she'll live with her friend Ruth after high school and do something fabulous. Then Ruth gets pregnant. Julia gets
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busy making contingency plans. Ruth's parents, who are strictly religious, can't know she's pregnant, or they'll send her away. No one can know Ruth is pregnant. Julia makes lists, interviews a midwife, and steals supplies, planning to deliver Ruth's baby herself when the time comes. Then they'll leave the baby at a safe haven spot, and get back to their original plan. Yeah. Right.
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LibraryThing member ZareksMom
While the Lit Report was a little unrealistic, it was still heart-warming and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny.

From the discovery of Ruth's pregnancy right up to the end, the book is filled with wonderful commentary on classic books and pregnancy, along with Julia's pragmatic point of view.
LibraryThing member tiamatq
With the help of some famous first lines, Julia tells the story of her best friend Ruth's pregnancy, from the confession that Ruth "did it" at a party to the summer that Ruth gives birth to a baby girl, all while keeping the pregnancy a secret. Julia is a planner and a researcher, and as a devoted
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best friend, she does everything she can to help the sometimes volatile Ruth make it through their junior year of high school without anyone, particularly her Bible-thumping parents, know that she's pregnant. It helps that Ruth's stepmother is also giving birth during the year, with the assistance of a midwife. As the year quickly goes by, Ruth and Julia begin to change, each adapting new roles that neither girl ever planned.

This is one of those strange novels that has an awesome main character - Julia is well-developed, clever, and funny - and a somewhat mediocre plot. Ruth's pregnancy is treated somewhat lightly, though there are several spots where the author seems to warn readers that it's probably not a good idea to help your teenage friend give birth without the aid of a trained doctor or any sort of medical facility. This point just doesn't ever sink in. The story also deals with post-partum depression, probably an uncommon element in young adult novels. It was nice to see this issue brought up. It was hard to understand why Ruth and Julia were friends, considering Ruth was downright abusive during most of the story. I also lost track of several other plot elements, such as Julia losing a ton of weight, the romance between Julia and Ruth's brother, or the developing relationship between Julia and her stepmother. Parts of the story work very well, but other pieces are just garbled; for example, Julia's mother just doesn't seem to be the same character as she was at the start of the book (I get that Julia gains appreciation for her mother's strength). The characters are also very anti-Christian, which I imagine could turn off a lot of readers. However, the story-telling device of using first-lines is a great one.

I'm curious to see more from this author, because it's a well-written story and can be enjoyable. I'd just like to see it tidied up a bit more. This reminded me a lot of Chris Crutcher's books.
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LibraryThing member mosylu1
I read this several months ago and am just now getting around to doing a review (mea culpa) but the strongest thing I remember is the theme of friendship, even when your friend is being difficult and downright bitchy (with reason, because her life kinda sucks) and it would be easier not to deal,
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the true friend sticks around. A smart and funny addition to the teen-pregnancy genre, told from a slightly different perspective than most.
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LibraryThing member jbarry
The Lit Report is a quick fun teen read. Characters were almost frustraing sometimes, but that made them believable teens. Interesting and different take on teen pregnancy that would make it a great recommendation for a girl reluctant reader.
LibraryThing member mlake
A teen book with more than I was expecting.
LibraryThing member satyridae
How Julia copes with her best friend's pregnancy and her new stepmother and her crush and everything else life throws at her during her senior year. Nicely done, with plenty of allusions to classic literature and some warmly believable characters. The crazy/religious/evil parents were, I sincerely
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hope, unrealistic. A quick, enjoyable read.
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LibraryThing member librarybrandy
Julia has her whole life planned out: after high school, she and her best friend Ruth are going to move out of their respective houses, get fabulous high-paying jobs, and live in a fantastic city. She and Ruth have had this plan, or a variant on this plan, for nearly forever, but the plan has some
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serious changes to undergo when Ruth gets pregnant. They both know that Ruth's Bible-thumping parents will not accept this turn of events, so Julia does what she does best: she makes a plan. Together the girls conspire to hide Ruth's pregnancy and give the baby up for adoption without anyone finding out about it, but when the time comes, plans aren't always carved in stone. As stresses pile on both of them, it's time to find out how strong their friendship really is.

I can't speak to the veracity here, but it does sound like hiding a pregnancy for 9 months and then having a baby at 17 isn't that difficult. There is an acknowledgment that Ruth's baby is an "easy baby," and that Ruth's support network is wider and stronger than the average 17-year-old's, but it still doesn't really communicate just how difficult new parenthood can be. However, this hardly seems the point of the book, which is more about friendship than it is about reproduction.

This is an easy, light read (not surprising as it's an Orca book), but I don't know about its hook for reluctant readers: Ruth's story, and her relationship with her underdeveloped parents, could be fascinating, but Julia's voice is one of calm intellectualism. I could identify with her, but I'm not 100% convinced the reluctant readers this publisher aims at will share Julia's passion for classic literature, or will appreciate the way she starts each chapter with the first line from a classic work.

But the story's really about friendship, and at that, it's really good.
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LibraryThing member spinsterrevival
Very engaging read; this is fairly fluffy for the topic of teen pregnancy, but it also had friendship, love, and crazy Bible-thumpers too.

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2008

ISBN

1551439050 / 9781551439051

Barcode

4052

Other editions

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