If Only
Publisher
HarperTeen
Publication Year
2018
ISBN
9780062393630
Pages
275 pages
Genre
realism
Format
novel
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
At sixteen Bridget is pregnant--and her boyfriend has dumped her for another girl. She's trying to envision a future for her baby. But as she sifts through the many paths and the many people who want to parent her child, she can't help but feel that there is no right decision. Fifteen years later: Ivy knows that she is now the same age Bridget was when she placed Ivy for adoption. She knows that Bridget was the one who named her. When Ivy goes in search of Bridget--of her own history--will the risks outweigh the benefits of knowing where she comes from and why her birth mother chose to walk away?
Grade Level
9-12
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; LGBTQ (Gender and Sexuality); Adoption; Gay/Lesbian; adoptive family; adoptive parents; adopted child; two adoptive mothers; birth parents; lesbian; same-sex marriage; two mothers; lesbian mothers
Main Character
female teenager
Race/Ethnicities
White
Keywords
teenage pregnancy; open adoption; birth mother; children of teenage mothers; dating; mothers and daughters; decision making; adoptees; religious parents; love; road trips; letters
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Gilmore, Jennifer, "If Only" (2018). Diverse Families. 2151.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/2151