The Pregnancy Project is about breaking down stereotypes and is based on the true story of Gaby Rodriguez. The high school senior challenges the way her classmates, teachers, and family members view teenage pregnancy when she pretends to be pregnant for her senior project. She eventually reveals her secret, but only after she has heard what everyone has said about her. The book provides a different perspective, making readers think about how they would react if they knew someone who had done all the right things and suddenly became pregnant.
Gaby Rodriguez is a very brave young lady. Many of her friends and teachers felt betrayed by her project. They revealed who they really are and didn’t appreciate being a part of her social experiment. She proved her point. Parents, teachers, and family members make unfair judgments when they see or know a pregnant teen. The book is also encourages and/or influences discussion about pregnancy between teens and their parents.
In “The Pregnancy Project,” Gaby Rodriguez is the brave 18-year-old high school student who forces her school and community to confront its bad opinions and delusions about teen pregnancy. And she makes national headlines in the process of the project. The story begins with Gaby deciding that her senior project will be on stereotyping, which she decides to experience firsthand. Confiding in her mother Juana, her boyfriend Jorge and a few others, Gaby begins her social experiment in which she tells her friends, family and teachers that she is pregnant.
While her fake baby bump continues to grow over the next six and a half months, Gaby carefully records how she is treated and what is being said about her (for better and for worse) both in and out of school. With her project’s final step, Gaby emotionally confronts her fellow students and their teachers about stereotyping and teen pregnancy during a special school assembly. Then shocks them by ripping off her padded “baby bump,” revealing she was never pregnant at all and teaching them a valuable lesson.
That was surely pure bravery. That’s what you’ll find in “The Pregnancy Project.” along with a dash of brilliance and some wide-eyed amazement at what Gaby discovered before, during, and after her senior project. And yet, what Gaby learned isn’t nearly as important as the guidance she offers girls in this book. The authors are blunt in sharing Gaby’s experiences: the pain of disappointment; the hurtful comments from supposed-friends; the egotistic, yet unwarranted, “I-told-you-so” remarks; and the anger that came as a surprise. Wrapping it up, Gaby is firm and level-headed in her advice for sexually-active teens and girls who are contemplating pregnancy anyhow. . This is a great book for teens, to learn that it is not easy as they think it is. And if they don’t believe it, then they should listen to Gaby who experienced herself in first-person. I totally recommend this book for 13+, it is a great resource…
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