Growing Up Fast

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AUG 25, 2003

In her compelling and important first book, documentary filmmaker Lipper recounts the difficult lives of six teenage mothers in economically depressed Pittsfield, Mass. The author, who made an award-winning film on the same subject, opens the book with a chapter on Pittsfield, once "the Plastics Technology Center of the Nation." It was plunged into stagnation when General Electric, the city's number one employer, decided in the mid-1980s to close a major division. Lipper draws a connection between the financial hardships of her protagonists' parents which often led to depression, drug use and family conflict and the girls' early pregnancies. At the book's core are the deeply disturbing stories of the young women themselves. Liz was physically and sexually abused as a child; Shayla's father went to prison; and Sherri's mother was addicted to cocaine. Of the teen fathers portrayed, only one is devoted to his child, while most are violent, drug-addicted, absent or some combination thereof. While each story is harrowing, the cumulative effect is even more daunting. Far from being isolated cases, these teens are adrift in a world of feckless adults, left to form opinions as Shayla does: "I thought it would bring my popularity up because people would be, like, 'Hey, she's got a baby, and that's cool.' " Often the author, who is also a psychologist, inserts redundant commentary. Readers hardly need to be told, for instance, that when a 13-year-old girl has sex with a series of grown men, "the reality was that they were exploiting her." At its heart, though, this book adroitly illuminates a social crisis. Photos.