Reaction

by Lesley Choyce

Zach and Ashley have been going out for a while, and things are going well--until Ashley finds out she is pregnant. She is angry and blames Zach. She wouldn't be in this state if he hadn't been so careless. Insistent at first on an abortion, she turns against Zach. Confused, Zach struggles with what he should do and what his responsibilities are. Coming to terms with the reactions of their families and friends, Zach realizes that this is a decision that he and Ashley must make together.

Also available in Spanish.

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Lesley Choyce is a novelist and poet living at Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia. He is the author of more than 80 books for adults, teens and children. He teaches in the English Department and Transition Year Program at Dalhousie University. He is a year-round surfer and founding member of the 1990s spoken word rock band, The SurfPoets. Choyce also runs Pottersfield Press, a small literary publishing house and hosted the national TV show, Off The Page, for many years. His books have been translated into Spanish, French, German and Danish and he has been awarded the Dartmouth Book Award and the Ann Connor Brimer Award.

Lesley Choyce was born in New Jersey in 1951 and moved to Canada in 1978 and became a citizen.

His YA novels concern things like skateboarding, surfing, racism, environmental issues, organ transplants, and rock bands.

Reviews

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

The reaction to the announcement that a teenager is pregnant is fairly predictable. In the case of Zach and Ashley, people react in the usual ways. There is shock, disappointment, and the placing of blame. What is not quite as predictable is Zach's reaction.

Zach feels especially guilty about Ashley's pregnancy. Even though their relationship is only three months old, he has strong feelings about her and the fact that they could be parents in the near future. He insists that he wants to be there for her, so he is right by her side when she suggests going to the Planned Parenthood clinic to discuss their options.

The clinic presents the following three options: abortion, keeping and raising the baby themselves, or adoption. Ashley's reaction changes depending on the day. She considers all three options at one time or another. Zach's focus, however, continues to return to the option of keeping the baby and sharing the responsibility.

Author Lesley Choyce takes readers through the challenging decision process as the teens and their families adjust to their life-changing situation and all make their feelings known. The path to a decision is not easy and the final outcome might even change, as Choyce uses the experiences of Zach and Ashley to underline the fact that teen pregnancies impact many lives and all options should be considered carefully.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't like the ending. The story was still a little better than I thought it would be.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reaction, by Choyce is a very interesting book. It's about a girl, Ashley, who gets pregnant by her boyfriend, Zach, who is older than her. She is fifteen and he is sixteen. Throughout the story Zach beings to realize how immature and how much younger Ashley is from him. He has so many mixed emotions when it comes to the conversation about if they should keep the baby, and raise it together or give it up for adoption. When Ashley tells Zach that she is pregnant, he remembers that while they were having sex, his condom had ripped, but he didn't say anything, because he didn't want to ruin the moment. When he tells Ashley that she is very upset and blames him for what has happened to her. Time goes by and they do not talk. Zach tires to talk to her but Ashley wants nothing to do with him. After a few weeks, Ashley realizes that they need to talk and decided what is going to happen to the baby. They're are many cycles that they grow through, with their parents, between each other, with their friends. However they do realize that the choice needs to be theirs. Zach makes it every clear that him and Ashley will decided whatever happens to the baby, and he will be there for her no matter what.
I would advise others to read this book, it is very simple and straight to the point. It is also realistic, pregnancy is something that is starting to become very common in this life time, specially with girls so young. Choices like the ones Zach and Ashley had to make are ones people at our age should not be making, because we are very undecided about what ,we ourselves want to do.

[Alycia Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked about the book is that Zack is willing to stay with Ashley no matter what because he loves her and if it were to be someone else in Zack's place maybe that guy would've left her that moment he found out that she was pregnant. I also liked the fact that they were making decisions together.
What I liked less is the ending, I would've wanted to know how their life was gonna be once that baby was born.
I would recommend this book because it's interesting and it's talking about teen pregnancy and how they have to make decisions together and no matter how people act around you, it's all on you and the future for your child. Your child needs both parents together especially when the parents love each other and are there the whole pregnancy etc. My sister would like this because its talking about teen pregnancy and she's into things like that. I her sister was pregnant at 15 and had my son at 16, she loved to pass every moment with me being pregnant.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I may not agree with how the people in this book went through their options, I do feel that it was a realistic approach and overall a pretty good story. The one thing I never like with these books is that it's just a slice of the characters' lives, not a full novel, so it sometimes feels like you're just dropped into the middle of a story and leave before the conclusion. This book wasn't too bad with this, as I feel it was aptly titled and it filled that. All in all a pretty good read. (Could have done without the swearing, but at least it was minor)

[Yours_trulyhannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty cool and interesting. I liked how the two couple teenagers have tried there best to stay together no matter what, no matter how tough it was for the poor kid. Its almost as a motivation for the ones reading the book.

[Em Hernández · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro fue un descubrimiento que no esperaba para este 2019.
La historia va más allá de solo el embarazo.
Nos cuenta cómo por un simple error y una mentira hace que TODO puede salir mal y las consecuencias pueden ser devastadoras.
Zach y Ashley son la típica pareja de adolescentes, pero una noche de intimidad tras un descuido por parte de Zach, Ashley queda embarazada, y es ahí donde el libro comienza, mostrándonos cómo Zach debe decidir si será bueno tener ese bebé o no, si será un buen padre o no, si su relación con Ashley podrá mantenerse a flote o no.
El libro en realidad tiene como tema principal el embarazo en adolescentes.
Este tema no es un tabú como tal, pero si es algo que debe reflejarse más en la sociedad.
Yo creo que los embarazos en adolescentes no siempre suele ser por falta de información, sino que más que nada es porque la mayoría suele evadir aquellas reglas fundamentales al momento de tener intimidad, como usar preservativos, pero entre adolescentes creen que eso arruinaría la experiencia.
El libro en general me gustó porque refleja una realidad, se pone en los zapatos, no sólo de Zach y Ashley, sino de cualquier adolescente que por una irresponsabilidad en la intimidad con su pareja puede llevarse consigo consecuencias muy duras, habla de como el miedo se apodera de ambos al momento de contarle a los padres la situación, de como es complicado a esa edad entrar a la etapa de padres sin tener muchos recursos al alcance.
Lesley Choyce sabe llevar este libro al punto de servir como un tipo de moraleja para que los adolescentes estén conscientes de que ocurre si no se cuidan o si hacen algo que llega a ocurrir en el libro.
Para mí este fue el primer libro que leo en el que el tema principal es el embarazo en adolescentes.
¿Tú ya leíste "Reacción" ?
PD:Perdón si esta reseña es corta y para algunos no está bien, es mi primer reseña en good reads, espero mejorar en el futuro.

[Rj · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story line talked about two teenagers and there struggles with a new challenge between them.

[Carmen Yeung · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not on the reading list, but i enjoy every moment of this book. It all started with a thought of nothing will happen and used a broken condom. Few weeks later, Ashley found out she was pregnant. And Zach didnt tell her anything about the condom. Soon Zach couldnt take the responsibility into not telling Ashley about it and told her. Ashley changed her emotions and reactions to Zach after knowing about it. Soon both of their parent was notified. Ashley spreaded rumor that Zach forced her to have sex with him, so she got pregnant. Zach didn't know what to do, so he had a talk with Ashley and ask her if she wanted his help. Zach wanted to be a good father and help Ashley and the baby. He didnt want an abortion or an adoption. Soon Ashley and Zach know that things can't happen by themselves, so they used each other's help. Their parents was helping them with this mistake. Ashley as a 15 years old pregnant mother had much help from Zach as a 16 years old father. This story taught me so much about having unprotected sex. It connects back to those lesson we had in class about STDS. It was a lot of responsibility to having a baby. Also, if i was Ashley, i would never accepted Zach no matter what they had in mind, because anything can happen and things can mess up the future for a teenager. Staying away from sex is the only way to be safe and sound. Also i thought this book was kinda of interesting, because i learned that Zach was a very responsible boy and Ashley and Zach will make a good mother and father.

[Helena · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the books that I read this summer, was Reaction by Lesley Choyce. This book is about relationships, decisions, and real life things that happen in the world today. Everything was going well for Zach, or so he thought. It was just a regular day at school when his girlfriend Ashley, came up and told him that she was pregnant with his baby. He realized from that moment on, that everything had changed. With Ashley’s parents angry at him, his own parents confused, and people at school thinking it was his fault and putting the blame on him, he felt like everything was collapsing beneath him. This book is about the steps they take on making that big decision, should they keep the baby or not?

I personally did not like this book very much. I don’t think that it had a very good plot, and I think that the conclusion wasn’t very good. The book for the most part, just focused on them trying to decide what they should do or not. Should we have the baby? Or should we not? Here’s an example from the book, “My mind just keeps on going back and forth with this decision.” I also didn’t like it because it wasn’t a very good conclusion. In the end, they really didn’t make a decision, “Whatever Ashley and I decide to do in the end, it will be the right decision for both of us and our baby.” I think this book had a good story line, however, I think it lacked closure. I think anyone who likes realist fiction will like this book.

[Chutima Xiong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reaction tells the story of 16 year old Zach and his 15 year old girlfriend, Ashley. They've been going out for three months, she is younger then him, they were happy, until Ashley got pregnant. When Zach heard that she was pregnant, he couldn't believe it. When Zach had told that the condom they used was ripped, she stormed off, not talking to Zach for a few days. She told everyone what happened, but in a different way, so it made Zach look bad. Zach apologized to Ashley, who still wanted to be with Zach. They started going to a Planned Parenthood clinic, where they talked with a doctor, Zach had mixed emotions on keeping the baby, and being a father... or give it up for adoption.
Pretty soon, Ashley had told her parents. And her parents called Zach's parents, causing trouble with the parents. Ashley's parents didn't want Zach around anymore, and Zach's parents weren't happy either. When Zach got into a fight with Ashley's brother, that's where the real problem starts.

The book is interesting, his thoughts and actions were what any teenager to-be-father would think and do. Also, the major events went in and locked with each other, however the ending wasn't the best ending ever, it doesn't say what happened. I would recommend this book, for any teenager.

[Victoria Waddle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ashley drops the bomb on Zach—she’s pregnant and doesn’t know what to do. At first they try to figure things out together, but their fear and anger cause them to pull apart. Ashley is so mad at Zach when she finds out about a secret he kept from her. She tells her friends that Zach forced her to have sex with him. And Ashley’s parents? Boy are they mad, especially her father.

Zach is trying to be mature—he has to get Ashley to talk things out—look at all the options. He has to decide whether he is mature enough to become a father at sixteen, the difficulties of which he can’t imagine.

High school housekeeping: Reaction is one of the Orca Sounding series for high school readers working on their reading skills. The Lexile level is 520, which is somewhere in the third to fourth grade reading level. So Reaction is a bit easier and even a bit shorter than most novels in the series. Knowing that, I wish that the book would have continued to show Ashley and Zach making their final decision. Still, it deals with a current teen topic and shows how teens can keep changing their minds when none of the options are very good.

NOTE: This review is also posted on my blog School Library Lady.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about two teenagers Ashley and Zach that end up becoming soon to be teenage parents after something that only happened once. Zach is only sixteen years old and his girlfriend Ashley is fifteen. Zach and Ashley both attended a party and after drinking so much and Zach's parents not being home one thing led to another. Two months after the party Ashley approches Zach and tells him that she is pregnant. Zach does not know how to react and after a while he tells her a secret that puts him to blame of the pregnancy. Zach knew that the condom broke but he didnt want to tell her anything because it might have changed the mood and what were the chances of her getting pregnant. When Ashley finds out she doesnt want to talk to him and Zach doesnt know what to do so he turns to the computer and finds a father on a website for teenage parents and starts chatting with him asking him for advice. When Zach finds out that Ashley wants to get an abortion he starts to notice that they have to make the choice together even if Ashley's parents dont want nothing to do with him.

[Alexa Estrada · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book reaction is a realistic fiction book by Lesley choyce.this book is about two teenagers Zachary & Ashley they have been going out 3 months they have been happy until Ashley finds out she's pregnant she gets really angry & blames it to Zach. She thinks is better if she aborts the baby. But Zach tell her to don't do it & to think about it. She kept on thinking about it and decides not to & realize that their love is stronger than their family & friends opinion. This book was published on mar. 1 2010. I picked this book because it look like a life lessomimg & genesis had recommend it to me. My favorite science is when thy realize they have to be together no matter what. My favorite character is Zach because he's a really strong person & never let anyone bring him down when they called him a rapist. I give this book 4 stars because it's really life lessoning. I recommend this book to people who are interested in teenage drama or teen mom life

[Shaniah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read was Reaction by Lesley Choyce. This book is amazing, definitely one I didn't want to put down. Ashley and Zach, the main characters, have been dating for awhile when Ashley finds out she's pregnant. Ashley's father does not like Zach, and makes sure he knows it, this causes conflict. While Ashley and Zach decide what they need to do with their baby, everyone else gets in the way. This book is a must read.

I liked this book a lot. What I liked about it was how it kept you interested, it made me not want to stop reading. What I disliked was how short it was, and how fast I read it. When I finished it I was really disappointed because it leaves you wishing you had more to read. I'd recommend this book to teenagers and adults, it's an amazing book.

[Marin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was terrible I hated it. I couldn't even finish it all the way because it was so bad. I had to skip to the end to find out what happens because I couldn't take it. Zach got his girlfriend pregnant who he wasn't even fully committed to, and after 3 months of dating she gets pregnant and they decide to keep the child?? I would understand if they wanted to keep the child after a long time of dating but she was only 15! even if they were together since 5th grade it probably still wouldn't have been okay. i do no think that children should be having children and I expected more of an outcome from this book. the writing wasn't that good in it and KIDS DO NOT HAVE CHILDREN IF YOU ARE NOT READY. thank you.

[Shimin Li · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's on the boys's perspective that he found out he made his girlfriend pregnant, and showing how he overcame the difficulties and disagreements.
I could see and imagine how hard it would be to be a teen parent. When parents, friends and so disagrees you,it's not that easy to continue with your own idea. But if you did and not given up for long, and proof that you could do it. You eventually will succeed.
This book is so cute that the first time i pick it up, i can't stop reading it until i finished. It's on my age and shows how teenagers goes from childish to mature. We just needs something to push us, something special and serious in our own lives.

[Emily]

Reaction by Lesley Choyce. is a very interesting and exciting book, Zach and Ashley have been going out for awhile and things are going good until Ashley finds out she is pregnant. Zach did not want to keep the child but after a while he learns to except it and is in it for the long run.

i liked how interesting it was and i kept me enthused and interested.Some things i did not like were the characters and there was not really an exciting part.People who like romanticism should like this book very much.

[Rachel Evanicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent story, good for young adult readers that have a lower reading ability. About a boyfriend and girlfriend who get pregnant and how they deal with the pressure from their families. Simple plot, very short book, not alot of drama or suspense. Not alot of detail. Would be great for those with problems with reading comprehension or basic reading skills. Orca Publishers.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, I thought this was a BOOK, not a SHORT STORY.

Second, it's a good read, despite the fact that it's only 98 pages and only covers what I think is less than one-fourth of the entire story. What decision does Zach and Ashley make concerning her unexpected pregnancy? Do they keep it? Give it up for adoption? I want these questions answered, dammit.

[Rosie Wheeler]

It is a very good book I liked it a lot it is very deep and makes you think a lot about if you where ever in situation like that. It does have a cliffhanger at the end though and if you don't like cliffhangers I suggest not reading it, if you like making out the book did end they you should definitely read this.

[Krissy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm honestly not sure what made pick this book up, but I kind of regret it. the characters were flat, and the story didn't really resolve itself. if the book hadn't so short I probably would not have finished it. it was interesting to see this kind of situation from the father's point of view, but that was about that only thing going for it.

[Gage Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would be good if the story funny poems and funny characters. I loved it when Billy got in trouble by Jen and her brother james. I also loved it when Billy let Jen cool down before he talked to her when she was mad at him.

[Louise Brewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book tich me to dont git pogant wan u are a teenager back u cant toke caer of it wan u are a teen

[Belkis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good enough book. I would have liked to know the ending, though, I'm pretty sure they kept the baby for the long run.

[Susan Evje · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written from a 16-year-old boy's perspective when the condom he was using broke and his 15-year-old girlfriend became pregnant.

[Javier Hum9]

This book was verrrrry good i liked it, it showed how teens felt when they were pregnant. it shows how they delt with things between their parents

[Jesseweaver]

I liked this book fairly well. It was interesting how it was layed out. This author is really good at making these books feel like they are a real story. I would recommend that you read this.

[Kellly]

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[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reaction by Lesley Choyce


Reaction by Lesley Choyce is one of the best books that i’ve read.This book is as good as pizza from Pizza Hut except you couldn’t eat it. While I was reading this book it was trying to run away from me because I couldn’t put it down. I read this book over and over and over again.

In this book, I would spend hours reading, listening to myself whisper quietly, and watching my own reaction while reading this book. This book is about a relationship, the decision that they have to make, and a real life situation that is still happening today.The only thing that I didn’t enjoy as much was the ending. It will make you as mad as a bull chasing you.

This book is about how Ashley’s pregnancy affected both her’s and Zach’s life. Whenever they found out they were expecting a child they went to the clinic. The clinic told them they had three options; adoption, abortion,or actually raising the baby. Ashley was shocked light lightning and Zack was calm like a turtle running because he actually wanted to have the baby.

Lastly, I recommend you guys to read this book it’s short and simple. You’ll finish it in 1 second.