How to love by Katie Contugno

How To Love

by Katie Contugno

F COT Genre: Realistic Fiction

How To Love is Katie Contugno’s first novel. She quickly pulls you in with a plot that can be visualized easily. Serena has a three year-old daughter. She got pregnant in high school in her junior year. Serena had been ready to graduate a year early when she found out. All of her plans were immediately crushed. All alone, her boyfriend had disappeared and her father shunned her, Serena had to work hard to care for her daughter and finish high school. Suddenly her ex-boyfriend appears just as quickly as he had disappeared, and things become even more complicated.

Katie Contugno quickly pulls the reader in with an engaging plot with twists and turns galore. The format of “before” and “after” chapters keeps the reader awake and wanting more. Not only does the reader get to see what it is like being a mom in high school but it demonstrates how emotionally difficult it is when people look down on those who have broken “social laws” and may also have been shunned by family. This book is recommended for high schools moms, and others who like the mom-in-high-school-love-story plot. It is a realistic look at life, including the loss of innocence. How to Love is not recommended for those who are just looking for an innocent book to read without cursing, drinking and drugs.

Contugno, Katie. How To Love. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2013. Print.

Kinlee Pruitt

Fall 2013