Growing Up Fast

This portrait of six teen mothers in a decaying industrial town is a wonderfully thought-provoking book. The photos help with the impression of a window into their world. The interlocking influences of economic problems, environmental degradation, drug addiction, and domestic violence are all compelling in explaining their situation. The behavior of the girls is often so idiotic as to stun the reader. Colleen's baby, for example, is fathered by Ryan. Ryan is a heroin addict who steals from Colleen and her family, and beats up Colleen many times, including an incident during her pregnancy that causes permanent injury to the baby. Society can only be thankful that Ryan spends a lot of time in jail. Yet Colleen remains faithful to Ryan for years. One of the book's major themes is the economic decline of Pittsfield, Massachusetts after GE pulled out of the town. After GE's departure, it left behind a legacy of industrial pollution on a massive scale. While the book does not address economic questions as such, I think the Pittsfield story shows the need for the costs of pollution to be included in measures of economic growth. A large part of Pittsfield's prosperity when GE was there can only be described as an illusion. For more on this question, I would recommend the book "Beyond Growth" by Herman Daly. Some of the policies recommended in the book strike me as naive. For example, the author concludes with a quote from Carol Gilligan (who helped with the book's preparation) that "The problem with these girls is that there is no safety net. The absence of resources really needs to be addressed." The book itself shows that this is simply not true. These girls and their babies received enormous public resources, including welfare payments, subsidized rent, subsidized day care, free medical care, social services, etc., etc. Giving a larger safety net to such girls would only encourage more teen births. This is easy to see from the book's stories on Amy and Shayla, who each went on to have a second baby out of wedlock. The others haven't had more babies yet, though given their talent for making poor choices I certainly wouldn't put it past any of them. In the long run, I think we will be better off putting more resources into birth control and pregnancy prevention, not more support for teen mothers. The book does have some good proposals on providing incentives to teen mothers not to have another child. Some of the girls made it clear that their decision not to abort their babies was inspired by religion. The book does not follow up on this. I think the Catholic church and other churches opposed to abortion have a lot to answer for here. If they feel it is unethical to use birth control or have an abortion, that is fine with me; but I believe they must take responsibility for the results. "Abstinence-only" programs can be effective in reducing teen births, but it is harder to do than other approaches, and there is a

Our local newspaper featured Joanna Lipper's book in a front page story titled, "For Teenage Mothers in Pittsfield, It's a Bleak Story." Yes and no. Growing Up Fast provides a window into the lives of those girls we see pushing baby strollers along a downtown sidewalk, laying out the challenging truths that led them to become mothers, and that they continue to confront as they raise their children. The "bleak story" is not just for the six teen mothers profiled in this book, but for American children, ill-prepared or uncaring young fathers, extended families, schools, taxpayers and all of us who care about America's next generations.I have just finished reading Random Family, by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, which has to be the publishing world's equivalent of a first cousin for Growing Up Fast. I highly recommend both books, but I came to appreciate Lipper's approach in dividing her narrative into six stories. Although some stories are related, no chapter is so long and complex that one becomes overwhelmed with names and relationships and timelines. The diversity achieved by profiling six girls also allows Lipper to avoid the question, "Why Coco?" that LeBlanc notes was posed to her repeatedly about her decision to focus on one of the two principal subjects of Random Family. Lipper also provides beautiful photos that allow us to look right into the haunted eyes (as well as some moments of contentment) of these young families. I am the Mayor of Pittsfield. Before publication of Growing Up Fast, I worried how Lipper's book would portray our City. Lipper is successful in telling the story through the words and experiences of Amy, Liz, Colleen, Shayla, Sheri and Jessica, and avoids injecting judgments of her own. I find her research is thorough and her engaging words are fair although none of our urban problems is left off the table. But mental illness, substance abuse, unemployment, domestic violence, poverty, homelessness and absentee parents are widespread problems. The Pittsfield community and all of America can learn from the stories of these young women, and from the successful programs here and in other communities that Lipper describes in her closing chapters. We owe it to these girls and to their children to do our best.

This book is so naturally written you will feel like you are in the same room with the six girls whose lives it explores. By turns deeply personal and then again unflinchingly political, Joanna Lipper's probing investigative journalism reveals the hidden truths of life in Pittsfield, Massachusetts--which like hundreds of postindustrial communities all across the United States, is struggling with the fact that the jobs that were once there disappeared into thin air when the factories closed--and children are paying the price. Lipper's detailed, incisive examination of the enormous role class plays in shaping destiny and opportunity, reminds me of another writer she discusses in one section of the book, Edith Wharton, whose novel, Summer, also set in the Berkshires, is about a teen mother. Like Edith Wharton, Joanna Lipper portrays the deep, complex internal lives of young women, which are full of conflict, pathos, longing, romantic ideals, disappointments, challenges, determination, and in the end, resilience.

Growing Up Fast is engaging and thought-provoking. Joanna Lipper's book provides a detailed, heart-breaking account of the consequences society faces as a result of corporate, community, and individual decisions. From the very first page of the book, you learn about the daunting issues facing Pittsfield primarily through the eyes of the teen mothers profiled. Not only will other young adults learn from their peers in Pittsfield, but so too will educators, parents, policymakers, and community leaders.

I was deeply moved to find that the teen mothers Joanna Lipper portrays so vividly illustrate both how behind our society is in addressing the lives of young women--and yet, how determined and resilient these young women remain. Lipper does a masterful job of letting these teenage mothers speak for themselves, while still incorporating the kind of psychological insight and sociological context that makes Growing Up Fast a book that will change the way we think about the world we live in. The hopeful and critical message of this book lies in the potential of social and emotional education to change the path of these women's lives and in their unbreakable spirit to move forward against all odds. I have screened both of Lipper's documentaries for top educators in the field and they have provoked emotional reactions and thoughtful discussions, just as this book undoubtedly will.