2010 Challenge: Read Your Doppelganger

This is the first of twelve mini-challenges as part of the very clever Take Another Chance challenge over at Find Your Next Book Here:

Challenge Description: Find an author who has either the same initials, the same first name, the same last name, or the exact same name as you. Read a book by this author and write a post about it. (If you try to keep your identity anonymous on your blog, you don't have to reveal what part of the author's name is the same as your name.)


I figured this would not be easy, as both my first and last name are fairly uncommon.  I started by looking up books written by authors with my last name.  Hmmm... I'm not particularly interested in literary criticism of Slaughterhouse Five, nor am I having trouble sleeping.  Then I tried my first name, which is an unusual spelling of Maggie (no e).  I found some books about quilting, St. Augustine, FL and Bible studies.  There were a few fiction titles, but nothing captured my interest.  Maggi-Meg Reed did the audiobook narration for lots of great titles, but I guess that's not quite good enough. Maggi Charles wrote several paperback romances, but even I'm not sure I could struggle through one.  


Finally, as I was poking around Amazon, I found an actual YA title with an author named Maggi.  I bought a copy for $4 through Amazon and will be curious to see if it's any good (the sole review on Goodreads, at least, is positive).  


Update!  I received the book:

Kerry,  A Teenage Mother
written by Maggi Aitkens, photographs by Rob Levine
Lerner Publications Company, 1994
48 pages, b&w photographs








This true story (one must assume it is true, but it doesn't say anywhere in the book if it is or not) relates a case study of a single teen parent named Kerry and her toddler Vanessa.  


There's not much to appeal to the average reader about this book.  The photos are quite nice, but black and white is, unfortunately, the kiss of death for books for young readers.  It's only 16 years old, but the style feels more like early 1980s.  While Vanessa is sleeping, for example, the book describes Kerry as having nothing to do but "jigsaw puzzles and the game of Life, which sounds radically different from today's world of texting and online multiplayer games.   


Kerry seems very real and honest, but also a good example for many teen moms.  She's smart, motivated and spends time with her daughter.  The last page is Kerry telling teen parents not to give up their dreams just because they are parents. Primarily, it's a warning against teen pregnancy, but it does present some hope for kids who might be facing being parents themselves.