After ~ Amy Efaw

Who would leave her own baby in the trash to die? Certainly not someone like Devon — straight-A student, soccer player with Olympic dreams, more mature than her own mother. But desperation and panic drove her to do what most people can’t even imagine. Now Devon’s in a juvenile detention center, charged with attempted murder. If she’s tried as an adult, she faces life in prison.
Does Devon deserve that punishment? Your answer depends on whether you believe her story – that she didn’t even know she was pregnant. Was she buried in a denial so deep that she was unable to register the seemingly obvious signs of pregnancy? Or were her actions the result of a more devious, premeditated plan? {from book cover}

This is one of those books that reminds me why I love reading fiction. I could have read a non-fiction book telling the same story, and I don’t think I would’ve been able to get through it. However, telling a realistic story through fiction allows just enough disconnect from the story to stomach some painful realities. Knowing that, though this happens and it’s something that our society deals with too often, this exact story and this exact person is fictional allowed me to put aside my pre-conceived notions of who a person in this situation is.
As I was reading this book, I found myself growing annoyed that I wasn’t finding out anything about Devon’s past that was relevant to her pregnancy (i.e. – Was she secretly dating someone? Was she raped? Didn’t she get suspicious when she hadn’t had a period for over two months?). But after reading the entire story, I actually look back on it and appreciate the way the story was presented. This made the story a little more difficult to get through, but I think it was worth it.
It’s tough to truly get into specifics about Devon as a character without giving away too much of the story. What I will highlight is the skill with which Efaw wrote a character that is easy to hate from the beginning. I don’t know that there’s ever a point where I thought, “Oh, well, if that’s the case, then I guess I can like her now.” But she was written in such a way that, although I thought it would be impossible, I could sympathize with her. The path she takes as a character, through all that she endures in the story, is worth the time it took to read the book.
After is what my husband and I call a “Good Not Good” book. The subject matter itself is disturbing, but the way the story is told is remarkable. Reading through the Author’s Note, too, I came to fully realize what an undertaking writing this book was. I applaud the author’s diligence in telling the story honestly, and I think the result of the effort is a significant contribution to YA literature.

Published: 2009 by Viking

Pages: 350