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In complete denial that she is pregnant, straight-A student and star athlete Devon Davenport leaves her baby in the trash to die, and after the baby is discovered, Devon is accused of attempted murder.
After seeing After in a publishing catalog back in December, I just knew I had to read it!
The "dumpster baby" phenomenon, which is the book's main focus, was both interesting and scary real. Before starting this book, I hadn't really heard or read many news stories about this topic. So, I was intrigued to see how a case like this would go through the courts and the reasons behind the mother's choice to leave her own child in a dumpster.
Devon was a character that I did come to like and understand her reasoning behind her choice, even if it did take me most of the book. I liked how Amy portrayed in her in way where she didn't glamorize her situation and make it go away, but instead made you see what the consequences from Devon's "dumpster baby" through her own eyes. Also, one thing that really got to me, was how Devon was the ordinary girl on a fast track to greatness, because she was an amazing soccer player, had lots of friends, and fantastic grades. Though, when she finds out she's with child, she flips and denies to herself that she is, leaving her to make the choice she did. What I'm trying to say with this, is that could happen to any of us out there. We could be what people think is "perfect" and still manage to screw it up with one bad choice. It just amazed me.
The writing was also fabulous. I give Amy major props for how much research she probably did to give us this a story that tells nothing but the truth in what would happened in this kind of situation. I loved seeing the whole court room scenes and the ones between Dom and Devon because I felt like I was right there with them, witnessing the whole thing.
Though, the one thing that kind of ticked me off about this book was the ending. Even though it did conclude the main problem the characters face in the book, it lead so many others to still be swirling around in my head.
Overall, After is startling real book told in a way that's honest and raw. I can't suggest this book enough to teens and adults all around. I truly look forward to reading more by Ms. Efaw!
Grade: A
10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.emma_marin_miller
Posted April 4, 2011
I consider myself an avid reader, and I've read many teen books. Although, "After" doesn't make my list of good books. I felt like the relationship between Devon and her mom was cliche. I would've have liked for Efaw to explore the tension between the too. I'm also a soccer player in a very competitive league like what Devon was said to be a part of, but the chance that a coach wouldn't notice a drastic change in one of his star player's bodies is slim to none. Every line of dialogue felt forced. On a positive note, though, I felt scared for Devon throughout the whole book, and I didn't want to believe myself that Devon had done the things she was charged with. Devon's character development was obviously something Efaw worked hard at, and it showed.
7 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.PatriciaJL
Posted February 14, 2011
Devon is a star soccer player, with hopes and even a chance to make it to the Olympics. Devon has over a 4.0 GPA. She follows the rules and never breaks them. She is known to be the perfect student and teenager. That is until one morning her world is shattered and turned upside down when two cops knock on her door. They have found a newborn baby dieing in a trash can behind her apartment complex. She has no idea why they are knocking on her door... Why would she have any knowledge about a dieing baby??
Devon is arrested when the cops notice that she has just given birth. But Devon doesn't remember this and does not know what is going on, let alone why she is arrested. After spending some time in the hospital, almost close to death from the loos of blood, she is sent to a Juvenile Detention Center where she is to remain until the courts can decide whether to charge her as an adult or a child for Attempted Murder, Child Abandonment, and Assault.
While this story is clearly about the social issue of mothers dumping their babies in the trash, Amy Efaw's book is more about a girl's journey to finding out the truth of what she really did, and thus who she really is. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that Devon committed this crime. The question is, did she know what she was doing while doing it...
Most of the story takes place in the Juvenile Detention Center, where Devon meets many different teenage girls, there for many different reasons. By learning a bit more about these girls, Devon finds a little bit more about herself. During her time, you [as the reader:] are also given glimpses into Devon's past to find the events of what really happened: the father of the baby, when she started to feel the symptoms of pregnancy, how she alienated her friends, how she was in denial of everything, and most importantly the morning she gave birth. Amy Efaw bluntly pushes the question of whether Devon is a good character or a bad character, and what will happen to her, in your face. This book is raw in detail and by focusing on a real issue that occurs today, you are left affected in many different ways.
I personally enjoyed this book - it had all the right qualities and aspects of a Teen-Social-Issue book (as I call them). I felt for Devon throughout the entire book, while at the same time, knowing she was in the wrong. I also felt uncomfortable as Amy Efaw describes details of gruesome but real events. I loved how Amy Efaw pushed this issue into my face and never backed down. A must read!
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 1, 2009
I was so excited to read this book. Sadly it let me down. The charters were very unappealing. I hated the main character, which is hard to do. I tried to like her every chance i got, but every time she acted more and more stupid. Did Devon have ANY emotions??? NO!
4 out of 14 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I am halfway through this book and so far it is really good. All I can really say is WOW! I dont know if i could do what Devon did. When i first picked up this book to see what it was about, i thought it was a pretty cool book. Then i read the inside cover and i wwas blown away. " Straight A student, soccer player, very responsible...." It sounds quite familiar. Sounds kind of like myself. Im not sure what drove Devon to do what she did yet, but im very curious as to why it happened in the first place. The is a very good book and i recommend it 100% It is a verrrrrrry good book.
3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Lizzyloves
Posted February 23, 2011
In this story, Devon, a teenager on the verge of womanhood is thrown into life's ugly grasp by getting pregnant. She is then forced to make a cruel choice to throw away her newborn baby girl, leading to her arrest. Throughout the novel there are a couple of themes, Devon's mother and her newfound friend Karma. Devon's mother not only plays an important part in her life, but also in Devon's choice to throw away her child. Her mother had Devon when she was in high school, and then spent the rest of her life with flings instead of relationships. Devon, not wanting to end her life like her mother, tried everything possible to stop there ever parallel lives, that included the unthinkable. Karma on the other hand showed the internal struggle Devon was facing, and Karma pointed out that while she wore her scars on the outside, Devon wore her's on the inside. There was one major message in the story: It does not matter whether anyone else thinks you are innocent or guilty, it is how you feel, as Devon came to realize at the end of the story. That is one thing I really liked about this book, and also how it gave you another side to all of the news stories you have heard. It added humanity to the seemingly inhumane, a reason behind the actions. What I did not like, is how Devon's thought process worked. Her good judgement was delayed and hard to understand at the end, it was also a little cliff hanger. Leaving the reader wanting more. I believe all teenagers and adults should read this book, it is one of the most raw, in depth novels I have ever read. If you want the other side of the story, read this, and sneak a peek at the lives of teenagers who make bad decisions. Overall, this is a fantastic book and if you like this book, I would also suggest The Secret Life of The Bees and A Long Way Gone.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.SET91
Posted August 6, 2012
I really enjoyed and highly recommend this book! Honestly when I read the summary I didn't think that I would get into it very well, but once I started reading I couldn't put it down! It is a very intense and emotional read. Before reading After I hadn't read much about "dumpster babies." This book really opened my eyes to this problem and gave me a passion to learn more. I hope that more people will read this book and be influenced to try to help stop the "dumpster baby" problem. Also anyone who is going into Social Work or Criminal Justice fields I believe would definitely like this book.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted June 19, 2012
Im only on chapter three but its cool how they describe the setting because i live in tacoma, intern at tacoma general (the hospital devon was admitted to) & live right behind Wright Park! Its like i know exactly where she is throughout the couple chapters ive read so far
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted June 11, 2012
It was...an interesting read. Very engrossing. But I never saw it resolved because the f word was so inconveniently inserted.
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 17, 2012
Amy is a fantastic writer. Although the book seemed cut short and left me thinking"I finished the book already?", i was in as much denial as Devon was on every page I read. Another minor flaw was that the law parts did get boring at times and I found myself skipping the occasional paragraph. Devon is a complex character but shes very realistic, in my opinion. Definetly do not hesitate to read this book. It left me hopeful and wondering about Devon's uncertain future.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Devon is a young, athletic girl with a bright future as a soccer player. The Olympics have even been linked to her name. How could a girl like this end up doing something as horrible as throwing a newborn baby in the trash along with other refuse from around the house?
While canvasing the apartment building looking for information about the abandoned baby, a police officer finds his way to Devon's door. Her mother, recently home from a night shift at Safeway, answers the door and starts her usual flirting. She informs the officer that her daughter, Devon, stayed home from school that day because she was sick. It doesn't take long for him to put two and two together.
Very quickly, Devon is thrust into a world she never imagined for herself. A world filled with kids with problems more complicated than she has ever experienced. A world in a juvenile detention facility under observation 24-hours a day. A world without anyone she can call a friend.
The reader witnesses Devon's story unfold piece by piece, almost as if we are understanding what transpired at the same time Devon does. What readers will find most amazing about the entire story is the level of denial Devon immerses herself in so as to function every day. Devon isn't always a likable character, mostly because of the strict discipline she holds herself to in terms of school work and soccer. She rarely lets herself loose, which means people don't know who she really is - including the reader.
I didn't want to stop reading. I needed to find out what pushed Devon to do something so horrible. Through conversations with her lawyer in preparation for a trial to determine whether or not she'll be judged in the juvenile system or be sent to the adult courts, we get a good picture of what was going through Devon's head. AFTER is definitely an engaging read.
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 12, 2013
Page turner that keeps you on the edge of your seat!!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 24, 2013
Before it all, Devon was a good athlete, an all-around good girl. But then IT happened—the thing that was so horrible, so shameful, so impossible to imagine that Devon simply chose not to admit it to anyone, even herself.
But denial can't make anything go away and now Devon's in a juvenile detention center, facing an impossible life sentence for her actions.
Does she deserve that punishment? Did she know what she was doing was wrong? Or was her denial so deep that she was unable to register thevseemingly unavoidable changes happening to her?
Told with empathy and precision, Devon's story is a gripping page-turner that will challenge your beliefs about conscience and consciousness.
Reply to Austyn.
Anonymous
Posted February 9, 2013
Dissapointing.
I was skeptical of this book to start but a friend loaned it to me and said it was really good. The first few chapters were very interesting but after a while, I was bored. Devon's charachter got on my nerves and there were a lot a of vague remarks along with underdeveloped plotlines.The end confused me as well as the author seemed to be tying in a theme that was absent in the rest of the book. I feel that it could have been really good but it just didn't deliver.
Chedlyne
Posted January 10, 2013
The book After is about a girl named Devon who is an amazing soccer player and she gets pregnant. Devon is really clear that she is pregnant and she kinds of goes on and goes about her regular schedule. She has the baby and she throws it away unconsciously and she’s arrested. Throughout the story Devon realizes what she’s done and how effective it is and how she needs to trust her lawyer. By the end of the story Devon pleads guilty because she realizes what she done was wrong. I like this story because it's kind of a lesson to girls and it the story seemed very realistic.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 3, 2013
Great read
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 19, 2012
Its a mystery book. Its that good that nobody should put it down until their done.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Kaitlin_S
Posted November 17, 2012
I couldn't get my nose out of this book! It wasn't what I was expecting at all (I was expecting a woe is me I got pregnant as a teen pity me story) but I was pleasantly surprised. Amy Efaw did an amazing job with truly making you feel connected to the story. There were times I wanted to cry for Devon. When I found out exactly what was happening in the beginning of the book, my mouth quite literally fell open--in the middle of English class nonetheless. I highly recommend this book! I finished it in about a week.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted November 8, 2012
Very interesting.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted October 8, 2012
This is certainly an emotional story that will have you not wanting to put it down until you have finished it! I would recommend this to anyone.
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Overview
In complete denial that she is pregnant, straight-A student and star athlete Devon Davenport leaves her baby in the trash to die, and after the baby is discovered, Devon is accused of attempted murder.