“I’m 15, pregnant and all alone; Mum’s going to kill me.”
Megan is a heart wrenching story about a teenage girl’s dilemma of pregnancy. During a personal development class which talks about female reproduction, periods, the pill and how it all works, Megan’s worst nightmare was realized when her teacher announced, “Of course, it is possible to be pregnant and still have periods.” Megan’s mind was in a head spin. She had already missed a period and from that point on, everything changed. She finds out she’s five months pregnant. How did this happen? What is she going to do? What will the father say? And more to the point, what will her Mum say?
The main characters in the book are Claire, who is Megan’s best friend, Megan’s mum, her little sister Ellie, her Aunty Lorna and social worker Susie. Claire acts as the ‘classic’ best friend who takes care of her, supports her and is a shoulder to cry on. Susie the social worker and her Aunty Lorna are the biggest emotional support throughout the book, looking out for her and helping her make important and personal decisions. Megan’s mum and sister are the biggest shock of the book, because they are the least supportive and downright nasty.
I really enjoyed the book, ‘Megan’ because it’s a relevant story about real teenage issues. This book discusses a sensitive issue, teenage pregnancy, and the emotional experiences around it in a very realistic way. It shows that not all families provide the support that is expected from a teenager and there is not always a ‘happy ever after’.
Mary Hooper uses very descriptive and easy to read language. I easily imagined each of the characters and the scenes she described. I was really interested in the story from the beginning of the book till the end because you never really knew what was going to happen next. I was really hoping for a happy ending for Megan but the book doesn’t end there; it continues to the next novel ‘Megan 2’ which makes me want to read more.
I recommend this book to girls between the ages of 12 – 16 who like a good heart wrenching, fictional drama that involves confronting real life emotions and experiences. I rate the book ‘Megan’ 4 out of 5 stars.
By Natalya T., Year 9
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“Without thinking, my hand moved onto my stomach. It didn’t feel any different. But was that because I did want it to? Was it just a bit bigger? Rounder?”
Megan and her boyfriend, Luke, broke up months ago and she is ready to get her exams over and done with so she can enjoy her holidays with her best friend Claire when she is informed in a personal development class, “Of course, it is possible to be pregnant and still have periods.” Suddenly Megan goes in to shock. She had skipped a period and it had been months since she and Luke… No! She couldn’t be! But Megan couldn’t shake this thought out of her head. She worked out that if it were true, if she was indeed carrying a baby, she would be five months pregnant! What would happen to her if this were true? How would her friends react? What would her mother say?
Megan is a normal happy 15-year-old girl who goes to school, fights with her mum and just wants to get past her exams so she can go on her already panned holiday with her best friend, Claire, until she finds out the worst news possible. She’s pregnant. This obviously brings many complications upon her and she will have to make some of the biggest decisions of her life in the up and coming months.
Mary Hooper has produced an easy to read, heart-wrenching novel about a young underage teen pregnancy. Through the book you explore Megan’s journey along with her and it provides you with an insight on how the teenagers of today feel when going through this time in their lives. It shows how hard times can be without any support from family and friends. Many people will feel sympathetic for Megan with the awful treatment she receives from her mother and younger sister.
This book is a good read for young girls aged 12 – 16 as it informs them on the consequences that will come up if unsafe decisions are made. I rate this book a four out of five stars, as it was interesting and I was intrigued from the very beginning about Megan’s Story.
Britney, Year 9.
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“Of course you can be pregnant and still get your period!”
This simple sentence changed Megan’s life forever. Megan was a 15-year-old girl who lived a normal life as a high school student until she realized in her Personal Development class that she was experiencing the symptoms of being pregnant. She automatically went into shock; she counted the months that she had missed her period, realizing that 5 months had passed, which would mean she was 5 months pregnant. All Megan wanted to do was to finish school and enjoy her holidays with her best friend Clair along with all her friends from school. She researched her symptoms and the choices she would be able to make, before eventually coming to the conclusion that she was two months too late to be able to have an abortion.
The main characters in this book included Claire, Luke, Megan’s mum, Ellie, Susie and Aunty Lorna. Claire is Megan’s best friend, however she didn’t support Megan the way a best friend should. She enjoyed the drama far too much and didn’t seem to care much for Megan’s feelings at all. Luke was her ex-boyfriend of only a few months. He was a typical, reckless teenage boy. Megan’s mum and little sister Ellie were very protective of their Megan. Her mum therefore flipped out when she found out the news of her daughter being pregnant. Susie the social worker and her Aunty Lorna were also main characters in the book. They were Megan’s rocks throughout the whole devastating and unfortunate position she had found herself in, the only people she felt she could turn to.
I really enjoyed reading the book ‘Megan’, as it relates to real life teenage issues. This book touches a very sensitive subject of teenage pregnancy, but was still very easy and enjoyable to read. It opens your eyes to the real life situations some teenagers face day to day.
Author Mary Hopper is a very intelligent writer and definitely writes to appeal to a young teenage audience. She used very easy and readable language throughout and it was very descriptive. It was easy to imagine every scene and every character that Mary Hopper described in this book. This book also shows that not every story ends with a happy ending and that some stories can end quite horribly as in this book.
I recommend this book to teenage girls between the ages 12-16 as at 12 years old they are just starting high school and at 16 they enter their senior year. Girls within this age group may be able to learn from ‘Megan’ and or relate to her situation. I rate the book ‘Megan’ 4 out of 5 stars.
By Charlee, Year 9
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“A baby. It couldn’t really be true.”
Megan is a powerfully dramatic read about a teenage girl’s pregnancy. An ordinary fifteen year old, Megan, discovers her worst nightmare in a Personal Development lesson. The teacher announced, “Of course, it is possible to be pregnant and still have periods.” At that moment, Megan knew she was pregnant. What is she going to do? What will she do with her schoolwork and exams? The question that scares her most was how will she tell her mum and how will she react?
The main characters in the novel are Megan’s dreadful little sister Ellie, her untrustworthy best friend Claire and her very unsupportive and heartless mum. On the other hand, there is also the social worker Susie and her Aunt Lorna who are very sympathetic and supportive towards Megan and her critical decisions.
I enjoyed the book ‘Megan’ because it is a book that deals with a difficult issue, teen pregnancy, which teenagers may relate to. It shows many emotional stages of the issue’s consequences and shows an ethical message of what teenagers should learn from. However, the story was predictable and did not have a major exciting climax.
Mary Hooper uses engaging descriptive language in this book. The descriptive language made a very vivid image in my head of what the characters looked like and the settings in the story. The ending was decent which made you want to read more, which you can in the other two ‘Megan’ series.
I recommend this book for young adults between the ages of 12-18 who like emotional and fictional drama books that relate to real life experiences and issues. I rate this heartfelt book ‘Megan’ 3 out of 5 stars.
Grace M, Year 9