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The First Part Last
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| Author | Angela Johnson |
|---|---|
| Series | Heaven Trilogy |
| Published | 2003 (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers) |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 131 |
| Awards | 2004 Coretta Scott King Author Award 2004 Michael L. Printz Award |
| ISBN | 0-689-84922-2 |
| OCLC | 50810558 |
| LC Class | PZ7.J629 Fi 2003 |
| Preceded by | Heaven(novel) |
| Followed by | Sweet, Hereafter(novel) |
Lead
[edit]The First Part Last is a 2003 young adult novel by Angela Johnson and the second book in her Heaven trilogy.[1]
Told in alternating “now” and “then” chapters, the novel follows sixteen-year-old Bobby as he cares for his infant daughter, Feather, after the baby’s mother, Nia, experiences eclampsia during childbirth and falls into a permanent coma.[2]
Critics have noted the novel’s first-person narration style, its fragmented time structure, and its unusual focus on a Black teenage father rather than on adolescent motherhood alone.[3][2][4] The novel became one of Johnson’s best-known works and was later singled out by Jonathan Hunt as an unusually successful book across both literary recognition and popular young adult reading lists.[1]
Background and publication
[edit]Johnson has said that Bobby’s story began in part when she saw a teenage boy with a baby riding the subway in New York and started wondering about his life.[1]
In a 2004 interview with Booklist, Johnson also explained that returning to Bobby after Heaven was encouraged by her editor Kevin Lewis after young readers responded strongly to the character.[5] Johnson described writing Bobby as a “creative stretch” because it was her first time writing a male main character.[5]
These comments place the novel within both the larger Heaven trilogy and Johnson’s character-driven method of building fiction from observed lives rather than from overt moral instruction.[1][5]
Characters
[edit]- Bobby – Main character and Feather's father
- K-Boy – Bobby's friend
- J.L. – Bobby's friend
- Fred – Bobby's father
- Mary – Bobby's mother
- Paul – Bobby's brother
- Mr. Wilkins – Nia's father
- Mrs. Wilkins – Nia's mother
- Coco Fernandez – Bobby's neighbor
- Nia – Bobby's girl-friend and the mother of Bobby's daughter
- Nick – Paul's kid
- Nora – Paul's kid
- Feather – Bobby's baby/kid
Themes
[edit]A major theme in the novel is fatherhood, especially the idea that care, responsibility, and maturity are learned through Bobby’s relationship with Feather.[6] Chelsea Rogers argues that the novel presents Bobby as a young Black father whose emotional growth is shaped not only by parenting, but also by the guidance of his father Fred and his older brother Paul.[6]
Crag Hill similarly reads the book as a challenge to stereotypes about absent Black fathers, arguing that Bobby’s decision to raise Feather counters a common media image of young Black men as irresponsible parents.[4] Taken together, these readings suggest that the novel is not only about teen pregnancy, but also about masculinity, care, and what it means for Bobby to become “a good man.”[4][6]
Reception
[edit]Reviewers generally praised Johnson’s narrative voice and the emotional effect of Bobby’s first-person narration.[2][7] Writing in the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Neal A. Lester argued that the novel’s alternating “now” and “then” structure reinforces its central concern with how past choices shape present realities.[3] A starred Booklist review praised the novel’s sensory detail and described Bobby as developing from a carefree teenager into a more thoughtful and responsible father.[2] Francisca Goldsmith’s review in School Library Journal also emphasized the immediacy of Bobby’s voice and suggested that the audiobook version could work especially well in classroom discussion.[7] Later commentary on Johnson’s career continued to highlight the novel’s wide appeal, with Jonathan Hunt describing it as both highly literary and unusually popular with young adult readers.[1]
Uses in education
[edit]In The ALAN Review, Crag Hill argued that The First Part Last works effectively outside the English classroom as well, describing its use in a health class focused on teen pregnancy and parenting.[4] Hill suggests that the novel is especially useful for class discussion because it addresses adolescent decision-making, parenting, and gender expectations through Bobby’s perspective.[4]
Awards
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Hinton, Marva. Sweet Here and Now. School Library Journal, vol. 64, no. 6, June 2018, p. 28. ProQuest, doc ID 2043834284.
- ^ a b c d Rochman, Hazel. The First Part Last. Booklist, vol. 100, no. 1, Sept. 2003, p. 122. ProQuest, doc ID 235519928.
- ^ a b Taylor, Donna Lester (December 2004). ""Not Just Boring Stories": Reconsidering the Gender Gap for Boys". Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy. 48 (4): 290–298. doi:10.1598/jaal.48.4.2. ISSN 1081-3004.
- ^ a b c d e Hill, Crag (September 1, 2009). "Birthing Dialogue: Using The First Part Last in a Health Class". The ALAN Review. 37 (1). doi:10.21061/alan.v37i1.a.4. ISSN 1547-741X.
- ^ a b c "Booklist 1)". Vetus Testamentum. 15 (4): 549. 1965. doi:10.1163/156853365x00152. ISSN 0042-4935.
- ^ a b c Rogers, Chelsea Danielle. Becoming a Man: Concepts of Writing Witness and Masculinity for Black Adolescent Males in Children’s and Young Adult Literature. 2023. Dissertation. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, doc ID 2871558695.
- ^ a b Goldsmith, Francisca. The First Part Last. School Library Journal, vol. 51, no. 2, Feb. 2005, p. 77. ProQuest, doc ID 211804774.
- ^ “Award-Winning Book Selections.” Teaching Literacy Skills to Adolescents Using Coretta Scott King Award Winners, 2009, pp. 1–2. Bloomsbury Collections, https://doi.org/10.5040/9798216988595.0008.
- ^ “The First Part Last.” American Library Association, www.ala.org/winner/first-part-last-3. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
External links
[edit]- Teenreads.com review Archived January 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
