Spellbound

Being a teenage mom, in New York the hardest city to be in. With the help of her mom and her closest friend Aisha they pull through the rough life they have. Raven Jefferson is a senior in High school trying her best to make a life for her and her baby Smokey. Her friend Aisha who is as well a teen mom have both dropped out of school to take care of their babies. Raven is trying to find a job to keep her and her family on top, but barely making it she finds a job cooking fish at a frying joint. Aisha is let’s just say very ghetto. She is loud and rude, but Raven on the other hand is totally different. She is more calmed down and not so piped up. I think the message of this book is to teach young kids what life is like being a mom. It’s not so much fun because you can’t do much. You have to leave all your fun days in the past and work and not go to school as much until the baby is old enough to go to a daycare or until you simply can. Her sister Dell is a lawyer and happened to run across a flyer that can help a student get into college but the only thing was you had to compete in a spelling bee. Raven was turned away right there because she doubted herself.

               

The book Spellbound is very detailed in how a young African American girl’s life is built. I think it’s a very good book for teens of any race to read. It as well tells about the determination and how to never give up on something that you might think is impossible. Everything in your eyes might be impossible but once someone encourages you to do it, it just seems very easy to accomplish.

               

I don’t think this book is a waste of your time because it gives you a perspective of how teens see life. They think that it is fun and games that you can just screw up in high school and not get punished for it, but Raven then learned that that was not how it turned out to be. You should really pick this book up anytime you can because it has a fantastic life lesson in it.

Book Review by Courtney B.