Johnson, Angela. (2003). The First Part Last. New York, NY: Simon Pulse.
Angela Johnson’s book, The First Part Last is the story of Bobby, a typical 16 year old
from New York City. He likes to go to parties, hang out with friends, go to the
movies, eat pizza and spend time with his girlfriend Nina. Then on the eve of
his birthday party, Nina is waiting for him to tell him his going to be a
father. This news turn Bobby’s world upside down. Now instead of hanging out
with his buddies he’s running across town trying to satisfy Nina’s cravings,
going to gynecological appointments with Nina, and meeting with social workers to
figure out the right thing” to do with this baby. Then something unexpected
happens and Bobby is once again forced to grow up.
The First Part Last is part of the
“Heaven” trilogy series. It is actually the second book in the series. Bobby
the main character was written as a secondary character in the novel Heaven until author, Angela Johnson, decided
to make him the protagonist of The First
Part Last (Carin, 2009, p.25). Finally, the trilogy of Heaven concludes
with the last book Sweet, Hereafter.
In 2004 First Part Last was awarded the
prestigious Printz Award for exemplifying literary excellence in young adult
literature (YALSA, 2012). That same year Angela Johnson was the winner of the
Coretta Scott King Author Award. (ALA, 2014)
The story is told in the present and in the past. It
is organized in four parts and each part includes very small sections where the
narrator informs the reader where he is currently in his life (now) and where
he was in the past (then). The entire story is told this way until part four
where somewhere in the middle there’s a section titled “Nia” and at the end of
the story there’s another one titled “heaven”. The way the story is structured helps
to demonstrate the struggles that Bobby, the main character, is presently facing
and at the same time shows the reader when and how he got to his present
circumstances. Lastly in the final chapter, the past
and the present come together weaving the story together.
The narrator is the main character Bobby, a sixteen
year old teen that is currently living in New York with his mother, Mary. Through
Bobby’s eyes the reader experiences his fears “ and that sweet new baby smell…
the smell of baby shampoo, formula, and my mom’s perfume. It made me cry like I
hadn’t since I was a little kid. It scared the hell of out of me” (Johnson,
2003, p.4). and the joys of being a
young inexperienced father, “she came to me so slowly I felt I was in a
dream…Then she was all dark hair, hand in fists, Nia’s nose and mouth. She came
to me so slow, and it was just like somebody brushed the air with a feather”
(Johnson, 2003, p.124).
It is sad and moving to see the internal conflict
within Bobby as he wants to be the father to his baby when he himself is still
a kid. After he has had a long night with the baby and he’s achy and tired of
being up all night he “wants nothing else but to run crying into my own mom’s
room and have her do the whole thing” but he know it’s not going to happen and
so his “heart aches” as he straightens out the little baby’s hand. He continues
and says, “And all I can do is kiss them and pull her closer so she won’t see
my face and how scared I am” (Johnson, 2003, p. 15).
Then the internal struggle continues as he and Nina
need to make the decision about what to do with the baby. His friends want to
know if he is going to keep the baby and when they ask he gets defensive about
it, “It’s a stupid fucking question, K”(Johnson, 2003, p.11). At another time
Bobby and his friends are at the park and his friend K-boy asks him if Nina is
keeping the baby or not, Bobby becomes physically ill, “My stomach is hurting
by the time that question is out of his mouth and into the air. I don’t say;
it’s not up to me. I don’t say; whatever I want, I can’t say” (Johnson, 2003,
p. 32).
The theme of becoming a man is also seen in the
story. Bobby mentions an old man named “Just Frank” who used to hang around the
corner and would always ask him if he “was being a man”. Bobby’s would just
laugh at him because he didn’t consider Frank much of a man since he was always
“hangin’ on the corner, drinking forties a ten in the morning” (Johnson, 2003,
p.9) But after Frank gets killed trying to save a girl in the neighborhood,
Bobby begins wondering if he “would be a man, a good man” for his little girl (Johnson,
2003, p. 9). This brief scene shows us Bobby’s consideration to either stay a
boy or become the man his baby needs him to be. In another chapter he gives us
the rules of parenting once again telling himself that he must be a man. If the
baby cries or if she needs to be changed, “In the dictionary next to “sitter”
there’s not a picture of Grandma. It’s time to grow up. Too late, you’re out of
time. Be a grown-up” (Johnson, 2003, p.14). At the end of the story when he is
at the hospital he thinks he sees “Just Frank” he knows he’s “being a man”(Johnson,
2003, p.95).
According to
Hazel Rochman from Booklist, “Johnson
makes poetry with the simplest words in short spare sentences that teens will
read again and again” (2003, p.122). Johnson’s lyrical style is found
throughout the story as Bobby expresses his innermost feelings and emotions
that are filled with images of his beautiful baby girl, Nina and the hard
reality of becoming a father at the age of 16. “I’ve been thinking about it.
Everything. And when Feather opens her eyes and looks up at me, I already know
there’s change. But I figure if the world were really right, humans would live
life backward and do the first part last” (Johnson, 2003, p.7) The short like
poetic sentences in the story allow this story to be a quick read in one
sitting.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading The First Part Last. It
was such beautiful and emotional ride to see Bobby’s character develop from
being a young boy to being a man. I liked this story because it is also told
from the young man’s point of view, and not from a girls like it’s typically
seen in many stories. This book is recommended for grades 6-12 (Rochman, 2003,
p.122). I think it would make a good read for parents and teens to discuss
difficult questions and decisions such as the ones that Bobby has to make in
the story.
References
American Library Association.
(2014). Coretta Scott King Book Award
Recipients.
Hinton, Kaavonia M.
(2006). Angela Johnson: Award-Winning Novels and the Search for Self.
The Alan Review, 34(1), 63-65. Retrieved from
Johnson, Angela.
(2003). The First Part Last. New York: NY. Simon Pulse.
Roback, Diane.
(2003). The First Part Last (book). Publishers
Weekly, 250(24), 73.
Rochman, Hazel.
(2003). The First Part Last (book). Booklist,
100(1), 122.
Young Adult Library
Services Association. (2012). The Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence
in Young Adult Literature. Retrieved
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