A book I have read is ‘Hanging On To Max’ by Margaret Bechard. It is the story about seventeen year old boy named Sam who is a senior in high school who has a baby son, Max. Sam's ex-girlfriend who is Max's mother no longer lives in the area and Sam has to raise this baby with only help of his father and his aunt. Sam's life revolves around Max. Throughout the book Sam is trying to deal with school, girls and on top of it all, parenthood.

 Hanging on to Max is a compelling story of teen pregnancy and the ups and downs of growing up between applying to colleges and making difficult choices. I would recommend this book to anyone from the ages of 13 and up. It is a more serious yet interesting read. It would mostly interest teenagers as it tells of the consequences of unsafe sex and gives an insight to what the future holds for teens my age.

 I found it both an amazing and brilliant book and would definitely recommend it to anyone who is up for a good read.
 
By Jenny Somers

This book tells the story of Sam, a seventeen year old, high school senior who is getting through school just fine until his girlfriend  Brittany discovers she is pregnant. When their son, Max is born Brittany decides to keep the baby, but later wants to put him up for adoption. Sam steps in and take full custody of Max forever and Brittany and her family move away to start a new life. Sam is left to look after Max without any motherly input as his own mother died when he was younger. His father doesn’t talk much and he lost contact with his best friend Andy so he’s very lonely at this time.

Sam starts attending a new school for teenagers with their own children. He isn’t sleeping properly and regularly falls asleep in class. His math teacher thinks  he should take his SATS  and get in to college but college  doesn’t fit in to the plan that Sam has with his father. When he graduates Sam is going to work in construction to pay his dad back.

When Claire, a popular girl from his old school shows up with her own baby and asks him to study for the exams, he can't help himself and finds the high score he earns just reawakens his yearning for a degree.  Sam thinks he  has found a great companionship with Claire and they soon become a couple. Not only do they like each other but they also share the bond of both being teen, single parents

This book is interesting and original, and I would recommend it to 13-18 year olds. 

I liked this book because it dealt with a real issue, teen pregnancy, but instead of the usual perception, a single mother, it was told from the father’s point of view.  

Aisling Finn

2b2

This is the story of a 17 year old who wants to raise his baby son when the mother says she will give the baby up for adoption. Sam and Brittney are in a relationship Brittney becomes pregnant and feels like she can’t handle raising a baby and wants to give the baby up for adoption. Sam wants to keep the baby so he does. He takes full custody of his baby son Max.

 

A lot of pressure is put on Sam as he takes responsibility, his only wish is to graduate high school and go to college. Sam then attends an alternative high school and spends his time between classes at the school day care centre. Sam lives with his father, who he’s dying to please; Sam’s father doesn’t talk much but says he will support Sam financially until he leaves high school and since he moved school and spending every minute he has looking after Max he doesn’t have time for his old best friend Andy, so Sam feels all alone.

 

During one of his days at the day care centre he runs into a girl he had a crush on years ago, Claire, and to his astonishment she has her own baby and is a single parent. She encourages him to study for his SATs, and due to his exceeding results, it reawakens his dream of getting a degree.

 

 

This book is a little confusing as it goes back to the past to see how his life was with Brittney and then returns to the present; the book keeps you wondering what decisions Sam is going to make next and what choice he’s going to make about himself and Max’s future. The characters and their relationships were very believable. I think the book is very enjoyable and a bit confusing. It focuses on how some choices lead to bad circumstances.

 

By Eleanor McEvoy

Hanging on to Max was written by Margaret Bechard. This book is about a teenage father, named Sam, as he tries to take care of his eleven month old baby, Max. After Sam's ex-girlfriend says that she wants to give the baby up for adoption, Sam decides that he wants full custody and raise Max on his own. Sam lives wit his father and takes full responsibility for his baby. Sam has to go to an alternative school with a daycare for Max. After a few weeks in school a familar face comes to the school. Sam realises it’s Claire, the girl he has had a crush on since they were in the ninth grade. Claire too has a baby and soon they become more than friends. She even helps him study for the SATS, that his teachers and Aunt encourage him to do. But his dad did not want him to, as they had a deal that Sam would not go to college and would work in construction after he graduated. Sam has had a hard life after his mother died from cancer when he was younger.

Sam struggles to give Max the best life and has a difficult choice in the end. I think this was a brilliant book and the relationship between the characters and the dialogue in the book made it believable. Bechard also highlights the issue of teen pregnancy and how hard it is to raise a baby at such a young age. However I would have preferred this book to be a bit longer but I would still recommend it to to any teenager.  

By Olwen Carey

Hanging on to Max is written by Margaret Bechard. It follows 17 year old Sam, the legal gaurdian of his eleven month old son and the struggles he faces being a single parent.

Sam's girlfriend didn't want Max when he was born and was going to put him up for adoption until Sam stepped in, he became the legal gaurdian of his son. The book follows Sam's struggle to level schoolwork with caring and playing with Max. He feels he has failed Max as a father until he meets his old friend and crush Claire, who also has a baby. Claire convinces Sam that he is not a useless father and soon they become good friends again. Claire is taking her SATS and as a way to spend more time with her, Sam joins the same study group.

This book was very good, it was also quite short and easy to read. It showed what it was like to be a single father as you don't normally see it from that point of view. The only let down was the end, I didn't think it was that good and a bit of a let down compared to the rest of the book.

By Eimear Ryan

The book I have read is called ‘Hanging on to Max’ which is written by Margaret Bechard.  The book is about a teenage dad who takes on the responsibility of being a dad to his son Max.  The book is a funny story that is both realistic and sad throughout. 

The story takes place in America.  The main characters in this book are Sam, who is Max’s seventeen year old dad and Max the eleven month old baby.  The main outline of the plot is the life that Sam has when he offers to take care of his son on his own.  The main point in the story is that even though many people judge Same throughout the book he still tries his best to take care of Max with the help of his dad and his aunt Jean.  The story describes the things Sam does to take care of Max like changing him, feeding him and also going to school!

I liked the characters a lot throughout the story because I thought they were very realistic.  I also thought that the dialogue was very realistic throughout the book because they used everyday language and not big complicated words!  The book kept my interest because I wanted to keep reading.  There were elements of suspense throughout the story that led on to the next chapter so you wanted to keep reading.  The language was reader friendly and I also thought that the descriptions were effective because they helped you to form pictures in your head which helped you to understand the story more.

I would give the book to teenagers because I think it was a very good read and I think many teenagers would enjoy reading it.  I think many people of all ages would enjoy reading this book.

By Megan Douglas.