Title: Firebird Caged
Author: Maya Chhabra
Publisher: Jolly Fish Press, North Star Editions
Genre: HiLo, Teens & YA
Release Date: 1st August 2024
BLURB
Ashley didn’t mean to get pregnant her senior year in high school. She didn’t mean to scare her hardworking and financially struggling mom, or to hide the truth from her awkward ex, Danny. She also didn’t mean to illegally take her well-off friend Madi’s prescription Xanax to cope with the stress—and she definitely didn’t mean to do it more than once.
When a doctor reports Ashley to the State of Wisconsin as a drug-addicted threat to her own unborn child, she is forcibly detained under the obscure and secretive Act 292 civil detention system for pregnant women, stranded in the county juvenile shelter home, and stigmatized by authorities who assign her fetus a lawyer but not her. It’s a struggle for Ashley just to get medical care for the pregnancy supposedly being protected—never mind fighting for her own freedom and making sure her baby isn’t taken away by social services after birth. Who’s going to protect Ashley herself?
But Ashley is stronger than anyone knows, and she has allies on the outside who believe in her. This is a fight Ashley can win—but only if she stops drifting passively, starts believing in herself, and chooses not to give in to despair.
Characterized by exciting, fast-paced plots and themes that are relevant for high school students, Horizon’s Hi-Lo books are both engaging and easy to read. Short chapters, simple sentence structures, and an accessible format make these books perfect for teen reluctant readers. Horizon books are written at a 2nd- to 3rd-grade reading level with an interest level of ages 14 and up.
The image on the cover is what initially drew me to the book. The cover conveys the desperation of a young woman, a teen in this case taking a pregnancy test and all her fears being confirmed the test is positive meaning she has a huge decision to make.
Ashley lives with her mum, her dad has moved on with a new wife and baby meaning the support checks are minimal and any other support is non-existent. So, its Ahley and her mum against the world really, they get by but don’t have money to splash about and live in a run down rented property where the landlord is reluctant to do any repairs or updates.
Ashley has broken up with her boyfriend Danny, he was more interested in his computer game world than Ashley and when he fails to support her dancing dream it’s the final straw for her. Its just a couple of weeks after the break up that Ashley thinks she may be pregnant, she buys a test and tries to play down its importance, comparing it to a Covid test just not snot that she’s testing.
She finally sneaks off to the bathroom at to take the test wondering how something so small as the pregnancy test in front of her can loom so large over her. Ashley is still trying to stay in the “its probably nothing” mind set until the test confirms otherwise. In the three minutes waiting for the test her whole life changes. Suddenly she is faced with a large, difficult decision that she cannot put off for very long. Ashley and her mother are close and when she confides in her mum, though she can see her mothers disappointment that she didn’t want her daughter to go down this difficult road that she herself had travelled. Ashleys mum offers to help sort out travelling to get an abortion as it is illegal in the state they presently live in, but doesn’t pressurise Ashley to decide right away, though she does caution her that the longer Ashley waits for an abortion the more complicated and expensive the procedure will be.
Just when decisions are made, things go terribly wrong with Ashley and her mother being made homeless. Madi offers Ashley a place to stay in her large house, and Ashleys mum finds a place to sleep at a friend’s home. It’s whilst living with the Wendt family that Ashley encounters Xanax and its effects. When she feels she is somehow becoming addicted she confides in a Doctor, and is suddenly arrested for the protection of her unborn baby. Ashley finds herself in a sort of home for girls pregnant or those considered by society as in need of such a home. Ashley has to prove herself to not only get out of the home but to make sure that she can keep her own baby! Ashley has to grow up quickly, and after reaching out to Danny, he puts her in touch with a compute game group friend who is a lawyer and who helps Ashley put her case across to the judge.
I really felt for Ashley who was perhaps at times a little naïve which ended in her making a succession of mistakes that took her situation from getting by to homeless and then into a group home. At times it felt like Ashley was a victim of circumstances. I could really understand the way Ashley looked at Madi’s life with rich parents, large house and her own car and envied it. Yet when Ashley moved in with Madi we caught a glimpse that not everything was perfect in the Wendt household either.
I liked the character of Danny, who eventually came through and how ironic it was his gaming contacts that provided he lawyer to help Ashley. It was a shame we didn’t get to know him a little better, though it became clear he still cared about Ashley and was going to support her and their baby in the future.
I think Ashley’s mum was amazing, having been a pregnant teen herself she didn’t jump for the obvious solution of abortion, she offered the option to her daughter and supported her in anyway she could to make her own mind up. It would have been easy for her to pressurise her daughter to have an abortion, as a baby would put further strain on the family finances. Ashleys mum was already working two jobs and barely covering their expenses.
This was a Hi Lo book aimed at reluctant readers, these books have a fast pace and are usually on subjects highly relevant to the age audience they are aimed at. I found the book really held my attention as an adult and I didn’t want to put it down!
I think the subject of teen pregnancy is covered quite well in the book as you see the different reactions through the generations. Ashleys mum was rushed into marriage, where as Ashleys mum gave Ashley choices and told her the decision was hers to make and that she would be there for her no matter what. Sadly, the subject of abortion is still a controversial subject and is a highly emotive subject especially as more and more obstacles and bans are being put in front of those seeking them. The book also mentions addiction, with Madi having Xanax and freely giving it to an agitated, upset Ashley without thinking of any side effects or consequences. I think the book also touches on the different way parents care for their children. Madi’s parents seem to throw medication at a problem rather than finding out the source of Madi’s issues. Ashleys mum takes time and listens to her daughter and includes her in the decision making. It would have been interesting to see what Danny’s parents thought about Ashley’s pregnancy and how involved they would have been. Though ultimately a teen pregnancy usually has to be dealt with by the young woman and her parents, in this case Ashley and her mum.
My immediate thoughts upon finishing reading Firebird Caged were that it was a really interesting, captivating short story about teen pregnancy and the increasingly growing legal minefield around it.
Summing up, Firebird Caged is an addictive read about a teen who finds herself repeating her own mother’s 'mistakes'. The big difference is she has her mother’s support to make up her own mind, but when their life and living arrangements take an unexpected turn and the teen makes another mistake then tries to do the right thing, social workers become involved, and it seems the state has their own ideas about the teen and her unborn baby.
No comments:
Post a Comment