Prom Babies by Kekla Magoon is a compelling exploration of friendship, love, and the pressures of teenage life. The story follows a group of friends as they navigate the challenges of prom season, revealing their dreams and insecurities along the way. Magoon’s engaging writing and relatable characters tackle themes of identity, social expectations, and the complexities of growing up. This heartfelt novel is perfect for young readers seeking an authentic portrayal of high school experiences, making it a must-read for anyone navigating their own journey through adolescence.

I had a good time with this one. I liked the multigenerational parallel and I liked seeing how the parents' experiences mirrored their children's. Of course, I thought the most compelling duo were Sheryl & Cole so I felt like I was flipping faster just to get to their parts. I probably could've read a story only about them and left all the other characters out.

I thought Cole's story posed an interesting question about nature vs. nurture. Here's this boy who was never raised by his father and didn't know a thing about him... and yet, he starts acting just like him in regards to women. How did that happen? He has a single mom who clearly didn't condone that crap, and yet, he somehow followed on the same path until he found out the truth. That was super interesting to me.

This book wasn't groundbreaking or anything, but it was fun for a one time read.

If there is an aspect of the teen experience that is inexorably tied up in sex and gender issues, it's prom. And if there is an issue of sex and gender, it is addressed in this book. With such a grand scope, of course, no single issue gets addressed in any serious depth. Characters are similarly limited in depth and development. The messaging is rather bluntly conveyed. What it lacks in subtlety, though, it makes up for in it's honest conversation. While this book isn't likely to be a favorite, it is a great starting point for discussion.

I struggled with this book. I loved the concept and hoped for better overall- but I found the characters to be confusing and interchangeable. I was unable to finish the book unfortunately - but made it about 50% through it.

I enjoyed reading Prom Babies - it was definitely an interesting and unique story and the narrators for the audiobook - Andy Garcia, Imani Jade Powers, Krysta Gonzales, Matt Bridges, Victoria Connelly and Yinka Ladeinde, were unique for each character.

I found it interesting that the author chose to write in the current day for prom 2024, which meant that the parents were in their senior year in 2005. That was the year of my senior prom as well, and the I found I could relate to those three in both the 2005 and 2024 timeline. That could have been me trying to make that tough decision, but it also feel like me talking to my niece (who’s 16) now in 2024.

It was a little difficult at first for me to keep the names sorted, especially since I was listening to the audiobook, the individual narrators for each character did help a little.

While this is solidly YA fiction, it doesn’t have that typical YA feel and can easily be read and enjoyed by NA and older.

Thank you to Turn the Page Tours for the #gifted copy and to Spotify Audiobooks for the advanced audiobook version.

This. Is . What. I'm Talking. About. When. I. Say. We. Need. More. Black. stories. I ate this up. Give me more more more more more more more.

I liked how the ideas of pleasure, discomfort and consent are explicitly discussed - and how each character are very different from each other in upbringing and nature, so their thought processes are unique. I think this YA novel would be great for high school readers for s*x and consent education purposes, especially as the characters are of high-school age!

However, I wasn't gripped enough to finish the book. I think this is just because It's out of my usual genre zone, so I might not be the target audience. I just had trouble connecting to the characters. I know the right audience would love this book. :)

I would love to see more multigenerational stories in YA, this was so interesting. It offers an engaging exploration of teen pregnancy, sexual assault, abortion and consent through several perspectives, which I think will really make readers think. There are six different POV characters but they were all distinctive, and really added to each others' storylines. I would have liked to spend more time with both the mums and the children as friends, but I respect that this wasn't the aim of the story, but rather something I was hoping for.

A heartwarming book! I think this book is so so so important for teenagers. The characters were all amazing. I loved the fact that we also followed the kids of Penney, Mina and Sheryl. I wish we delved deeper into Cole’s storyline.

All in all I recommend this book to everyone!

Tropes
•YA
•Teen Pregnancies
•Duel Timeline
•Multi POVs
Trigger Warning ⚠️
•Rape | Sexual Assault
♤ Release April.30 ♤
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4.5 🌟
I think this book might just be my favorite book | audiobook for this month (April) .
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The storyline is phenomenal and should be talked about more, teen pregnancies.
The storyline is done in Then (Past) and" Now "(Present). In the Then (Past) we have the moms ... Penny, whose mother was also a teen mom, decided to have consental sex with her partner on prom night, and the condom breaks, and she gets pregnant. Mina story is the same as Penny's has cobsental sex with her partner, and the condom breaks and whe gets pregnant. Sheryl is a fostered kid who was unfortunately raped on prom night, which resulted in her getting pregnant. The Now (Present) is the story of their children and how they are coming up on their prom night. We have Blossom, Amber, and Cole are gearing up to go to prom and facing some big decisions of their own. As they seek to understand who they are and who they want to be, they grapple with issues that range from consent to virginity, gendered dress codes, and the many patriarchal, heteronormative expectations that still come along with prom.
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I gave this story 4.5 🌟 because I wanted to know what happened after prom with the teen if they followed their parent footsteps or picked a different path. But overall, this is a great YA book for teens to read and very informative.
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♡ eArc Review ♡
Thank you, Netgalley, and Macmillan Children's for the eArc for my honest review.

I liked how this was a very thoughtful written story. I loved the multi-generational aspect of it and how it showed three very different situations that could lead to pregnancy and how it eventually would impact the girls children when they were at a similar age. I loved how this story focused on found family and friendship which I thought was so beautiful. In addition, I thought it handled some heavier topics very well, but I do think that it should’ve had a trigger warning in the beginning just so that some people could know what was going to be mentioned.

This was a great multigenerational story. Usually when a book has a lot of POVs it can get super confusing. This one had 6 and it didn't get as confusing as I thought it would. I loved each character's POV and seeing what they were each going through. Cole in particular was really interesting, given that he was the only guy in the group and he was the product of a rape. I loved how consent was a big part of his story as well as the rest of the characters' POVs. It was an important aspect to the story.
With the past POVs, aka the moms, we got to see how each of them dealt with getting pregnant from a different type of relationship, couple in love, casual hookups, and rape. Each of them considers abortion and we get to see all of their thought processes as they way the pros and cons of both options. I liked that because having an abortion or having the baby are both difficult decisions especially as a teenager and each girl had a very different perspective on their pregnancy because of how they got pregnant. SO this book definitely explores a lot of different things.
With the present POVs, aka the kids, we get more discussions about sex, sexuality, consent, sexism, heteronormative expectations. So many different topics to explore. It was a different vibe than the moms' because moms' POVs were all about their pregnancies but the kids were about relationships, taking down the patriarchy, consent, and learning about themselves.

Content warning: teen pregnancy, rape, sexual assault, discussions of abortion, se

This book was really good! I thought the story line and plot were so interesting, and I loved the way the characters switched perspectives. It was so interesting to see how the choices the parents made affected their kids years later! I also loved seeing how Cole was able to change and become a better person, that was really cool.

When it comes to examining adolescent sexuality, sex, gender, and consent, this book is truly unique. I truly appreciate how the subject of sex is addressed and discussed without ever making the act itself overtly graphic—instead, the concepts of pleasure, discomfort, and consent are tackled. All of the 2005 characters conceive through various relationships (rape, casual fling, and loving couple), consider having an abortion, but ultimately choose to keep their children for various reasons. While not downplaying the validity of either option, I thought it brought to light considerations beyond the standard good and bad rationale. I also liked how inside each character's thoughts the reader got to be during this decision.

this is super education as most of Magoons books are so I loved it and would recommend to anyone on my platform.

An educational read! Trigger warning for rape and sexual assault.
Prom Babies is told in a dual timeline of Then/Now.
In the Then timeline we are following three girls:
Penney-who has consensual sex with her boyfriend on prom night. Unfortunately, their condom breaks and she gets pregnant.
Mina-a biracial girl who grows up in a religious home and also has consensual sex with someone and the condom breaks and she gets pregnant.
Sheryl-who is sadly raped on prom night by her date and gets pregnant.
The Now timeline follows their offspring eighteen years later as they approach their own prom night.
Although this isn’t perfect, I think it is very informative for a young reader.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Two generations of teens tell the story of their high school prom experience. From 2005, Mina, Penny, and Sheryl and from 2024 Blossom, Amber, and Cole....their three children resulting from prom night (or close to it) pregnancies. While some things have changed, others remain the same as feelings churn and big decisions are made leading up to and after prom "dreams" are realized or destroyed.

This novel is really unique when it comes to looking at teen sexuality, sex, gender, and consent. I really like how the topic of sex is discussed and explored without the act itself every becoming explicitly graphic, but the ideas of pleasure, discomfort, and consent are. All of the characters from 2005 become pregnant via different relationships (loving couple, casual fling, and rape) and all consider abortion, but ultimately decide to keep their babies for different reasons. I appreciated how inside each characters head the reader got to be during this decision and think it brought to light considerations beyond the typical good and bad logic while not underplaying the validity of either choice. As the children of the 2005 protagonist come of age in 2024, the conversation around sex, pregnancy, and a woman's right to choose changes highlighting some of the more pressing concerns around access to health care teens today may have. No subject is off base when it comes to virginity, gender, heteronormative expectations, and dismantling the patriarchy. I think this is a book that will resonate with teen readers. My biggest critique is that even at 304 pages, with six perspectives, there was more I wanted to know about everyone!