Teenage Love Affair

by Ni-Ni Simone

From one of the most talented voices in urban teen fiction comes a vibrant, true-to-life novel about trying to balance family, school, and relationships in the hood.

Genres: Romance, Urban, Young Adult, Drama, Realistic Fiction, Abuse, Fiction

240 pages, Library Binding

First published April 1, 2010

Reviews

[Nyasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teenage Love Affair is about a girl named Zsa-Zsa who gets hit by her boyfriend Ameen when ever she does something wrong, he cares for her and it's true love in her eyes.Everything gets confusing when her childhood love Malichi comes back into her life. With Ameen stalking her after there breakup and her love life with Malichi just taking off everything gets really complicated. Will Zsa and Malichis relationship last through all this drama or will he step like he did five years ago?
This is a text to world connection. I say it's a text to world because alot of people are in abusive raltionships in the world and think that it's true love just becuase teh guy says hes sorry and says he loved the girl. Zsa was able to get out the relationship but Ameen wasn"t ready to give her up and stalked he rlike crazy and even beat her when they werent togethor. Some guys will go to the extent that Ameen wnt to just to get his girlfriend back because he has been in control, it's like a life lesson to people.
i gave the book five stars becuase I couldn't put it down. I kept reading the book over and over again. It was so enticing and it kind of shows hope for love even if it left you for a really long time. Although Zsa kept thinking she was grown because of the fact that she knew what to do with her sister when her dad beat her mother she wasn't really any different. I think alot of people would love this book.

[Lourdes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I choose to read this book because in this cover it seems like this girl is like afraid of something or someone. I sort of did judge this book by its cover, because that is the only reason i chose to reade it. The genre of this book is fiction. The setting of this book takes place at Ameen's house,Zsa-Zsa's house, Malachi's house, and at school. Zsa-Zsa is the main character of this book and she is very preety from what i have read and her family wasn't the best influence on her or her sister. Zsa-Zsa isn't so confident when it comes to taking decisions and is very sensitive. She hates how her parents used to fight every Friday night and she doesn't like to be compared with her mom. Every Friday night for Zsa-Zsa and her sister brought her to grow up with memories she hates been reminded of.

Zsa-Zsa's family wasn't the best a girl could ever wish her. Every friday evening her father used to bring Chinese food home and he used to drink alot until he ended up in a fight wiht Zsa-Zsa mom and ended up smaking her. Zsa-Zsa and her sister would go up to Malachi's apartment and get some sleep up their, well not really it would be more like Hadiah sleeping and her crying because she could remeber how the wall jumped.Her brother Derrick would always prefer not to be home so he didn't have to see how his mom would get beat so he would always would be hanging with friends. Her mom would call the cops but she would always agree to take the charges of their father and he would always promise that he would change but he never did. Finally it had been normal at Zsa-Zsa house for a while until the last day of her school came up and her dad brought chinese food home again she could already sense their was goig to be a fight that night. Malachi asked Zsa-Zsa if she wanted to be his girl and she had circled yes in the note she had given him back. She gave him a kiss the last day of school and ran of home right away, she didn't even wait for him to say a word to her after what had happened. Malachi's family ended up moving that day and Zsa-Zsa was very hurt that night because she had no were to go to since the fighting had started at her house already. As the years passed Zsa-Zsa's dad died and they moved to a bigger house where their remaind no memories of her father. Zsa-Zsa dated Ameen and thought that she couldn't live without him until one day she was in the car with him and she saw Malachi again and ran out the car with excitement to hug him. Ameen was a super jelous guy and he took the smallest things as an excuse to hurt Zsa-Zsa. After a while Zsa-Zsa found Ameen cheating on her with a blond chick at a club after he had had just been with her. Zsa-Zsa got slapped in front of everyone at the club that day by Ameen. Malachi was so furious that he tryed to start a fight with him but she got in the middle and told Malachi to back off. Zsa-Zsa ended up excepting Malachi as her new boyfriend, but Ameen seemed like he was stalking her and he called her 24/7. Zsa-Zsa and Malachi faced some problems throught the strory and the over came all of them. Zsa-Zsa mom started to date Kenneth and she really didn't like him at first but after she went to counciling program with her mom she relized that they had many things in common.

Zsa-Zsa had gotten beaten up by Ameen and sent to the hospital and still she kept on seen him and trying to confort him when his mom died. He told Zsa-Zsa that he had a job interview and she let him borrow her car. Malachi came to visit her and her mom didn't know where her car was so as the time passed some cops knocked on the door and told her that her car had been in a car accident and that Ameen was in jail. Malachi couldn't believe her, he had told her many times that he didn't want her near him or to have any contact with him since he had already beaten her up. He broke up with Zsa-Zsa and she cryed for many days and tried to fix everything up but he didn't belive in her anymore. Kenneth was starting to try to know the family and brought a suprise for them home. It was ''Derrick'' all her family ran up to him and hugged him kissed him and were super happy with him home. Zsa-Zsa ended up taking with him that day about all her problems and he told her to tell him how sorry she was one less time and he was pretty sure that things would get fixed up by then. So Zsa goes to his house and it seems like he ignores her for a bit until she gets out of his house crying and he comes out after her and things get fixed up. I really enjoyed this book and i thought that this book made me realize that there are women out there trying to get someone off their back. When someone is getting beaten someone should put an end to it and i think that i would recommend this book to anyone even boys because they can realize how much they can end up hurting a girl.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine what it must be like to have every Friday evening end with your father smacking your mother around. Sometimes the only way he would stop was when your mom called the police. Thankfully, you could grab your younger sister and flee upstairs with her to the safety of a good friends home. What does this mean for your future?

That is exactly what it was like for Zsa-Zsa and her sister Hadiah. But that was then and this is now. Zsa-Zsa is now 17 years old. Since the time when she was 12, her dad has died of cancer, and her widowed mother has moved them all to a nice home in another part of the city. While this would seem like a big improvement, the family has had little time to heal. Zsa-Zsa's mom works many hours as a prison guard and spends a lot of her time off away from home.

To help with the girls, Zsa-Zsa's mom talks Cousin Shake and his wife Ms. Minnie to come and help out. While they are quirky (and quite funny), they really do step into help out the family in all sorts of ways. The least of the problems is the divisions between Zsa-Zsa and her mom.

While Zsa-Zsa has a great support system in her two best friends Asha and the humorously flamboyant Courtney (a guy), but even their love is not enough to talk her into taking a better look at her boyfriend Ameen. There is no question that she loves Ameen, but everyone seems to doubt whether the same can be said for him. He is constantly seeing girls on the side, and he definitely has anger control issues. This all starts to come to a head when he hits her in a night club one evening. While she hit back, does that mean she is falling into the same trap as her mother? Asha and Courtney sure do think so!

Things become even more complicated when childhood friend Malachi returns to the city after having moved away. Malachi was the friend whose home was the haven for Zsa-Zsa and her sister during those Friday nights years before. She felt totally betrayed when he left. Not only is he their and willing to be friends, but he has grown up in to quite the hottie, and he is interested in getting serious with Zsa-Zsa. Could true love fall upon these childhood friends?

Zsa-Zsa lives in the cycle of violence that can easily occur for those living in homes where domestic abuse is present. Even though she knows how wrong it is, she falls into the same pattern of falling in love and making excuses for the man who hurts her. Even the strong support system around her in her friends and family, her pride and fear of appearing weak makes it difficult for her to fully walk away from Ameen, leaving the reader to wonder what it will take for her to finally get it.

Simone has done a wonderful job of creating a realistic cast of characters to tell this story. At times, Zsa-Zsa is frustrating as she risks her relationship with Malachi, her reforming bond with her mother, and her safety sa she continually falls victim to her feelings for Ameen. With that said, this gives a realistic presentation of the situation for those of us who have never lived under those conditions.

Similarly, Zsa-Zsa and her friends are all realistic in their teen voices. Even as they are faced with the challenges of a harsh urban life, they find pleasure in all of the every day things that all of today's kids like. The result is a page turner that leaves you cheering on Zsa-Zsa in the hopes of her finding true happiness.

[Ezraela-Baht · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hope Miss Simone keeps writing for young adults, She has so much useful information for abused young adults as well as abused adults, I originally ordered this book for my teen daughters but read it for myself, needless to say I loved it, It was funny and true. It's sad but abuse comes in many forms. Some women are blessed to get out of an abusive relationship, and others aren't so lucky,. I loved the message Miss Simone was sending out to young adults in this book.

[Jasmine]

So far this book is GREAT ! I canr put it down

[Marissa H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teenage Love Affair:
We all know kids pick up habits from their parents and most of the time they can’t help it. They tell themselves they’ll never be like that, but then they recognize that same action or habit when they’re older. That’s exactly what Teenage Love Affair by Ni-Ni Simone is about.

Teenage Love Affair is a story about a girl named Zsa-Zsa, who lives in a very dramatic world. Her father gets drunk every Friday and brings home Chinese food, which Zsa-Zsa hates. When her father gets drunk, he would abuse her mother, and Zsa-Zsa would know it was coming. She realized every Friday night, she and her sister, Hadiah, would be dragged down the police station, only to find out their mother would not follow through with the charges on her father. To escape, she would go see her childhood sweetheart and friend, Malachi, who lived in the same apartment building as her. They got closer and closer every Friday night, but one night when Zsa-Zsa goes to look for Malachi, one of his old neighbors tell her and her sister that he’s moved. From then on she learns not to get too attached to people. Later in the book you learn that she is now 17, and she has a boyfriend named Ameen. he was everything she wanted, and more. He bought her everything she wanted, took her everywhere she wanted or needed to go. Only one problem; when Ameen gets mad, sometimes he takes his anger out on her. And yeah, maybe she should leave him, (Her two friends, Courtney and Asha certainly think so) but she knows there's no way Ameen could imagine being without her. She constantly tells herself she won’t take abuse like her mother did, yet she stays with Ameen, even after he hits her. One day she sees Malachi, but she couldn’t believe her eyes. Her first love is back in her life. But did I mention that Malachi has a girlfriend? Needless to say, the story is filled with drama. Who will she choose? Ameen or Malachi?

I can’t explain the ending, but something I really enjoyed about the book was how fast paced it was. I couldn’t stay away from the book; it kept my attention the whole time. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes romance and/or realistic fiction.

[Fernanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

i choose these book because a friend told me to read it because it was a good book. i also chose it because my friend who told me about it has the same taste of books like i do so i thought it was going to be a good book. the genre of the book is a long chaperter book and romance and abuse. the setting took more place at home and at school. The main character is Zsa-zsa she is a teen who can drive has her own car and who lives with sister and mom her dad died from cancer she has been living with the money he left behind. Her childhood life wasnt easy becuase her parents fought alot every friday when her dad bought chinese food he would beat her mom up becuase he came home drunk. Zsa would grab her micheal. he is also a main character he is zsa frist love and a true gentleman he is very sweet and nice to zsa during the book. one day while zsa grab her sister to go upstairs with ameen she didnt find micheal because he had move time went on until now there older he had return to finsh high school with her. zsa has a boyfriend named ameen he is a total jerk but zsa is in love with him so she doesnt notice. he uses her and cheats on her with girls from the clubs. he only wants her money and ride. during the story ameen beats up zsa and sents her to the hospital and micheal helps her alot they go out in the story and at the end they live happy and zsa gets therpy and micheal ends up also getting help and zsa mom ends up getting married and she forgets about the past and helps zsa and her get a better connection as mother and daughter. i really did liked these book because it kept me reading and reading. VERY INTERSECTING

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the second time I tried reading this book. The first time, during the summer, a teen patron asked for the book and rather than put it on hold for her, I offered her my copy. This time I had to finish it because it's being considered for RI Teen Book Award list for 2012. It's a challenge reading this because of all the slang even though I'm used to hearing the kids at my library talk to each other. The message in it is a good one because it has to do with domestic violence...in families and dating violence. This is already a popular book at my library so I'll be interested to see how it does with RITBA.

[Asha Hedrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teenage Love Affair, was another great novel by Ni-Ni Simone. Like the others that I have read it is filled with the same suspense and intensity that keeps me interested from start to finish. Anyone, that reads this novel especially teens will fall in love with it as soon as they read the first page. Simone does an excellent job relating the protagonist, Zsa Zsa, to issues that many teenagers go through in the world. One of them being abuse. The over all moral of the story is the fact that everything that glitters inst. always gold.

[Amanda Peebles]

I couldn't even put it down!!!!

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

her boyfriend Ameen keeps on beating her but but then her last long friend came back and she still have feelings for him and at the end she was done with Ameen and went out with Malachi

[Mahogani · Rating 5 out of 5]

ITS JUST LIKE THE BOOK IM READING RIGHT NOW NOTHING BUT DRAMA.

[Iyanuoluwa Olalere · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was a good book i was happy at sometimes upset at others and sometimes both

[2alexandriaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story of a seventeen year old African American girl named Zsa-Zsa. Zsa has always had family problems when she was growing up, for example, her dad would always get drunk on Friday nights and he would beat up her mother. Zsa's mother would always call the police on him but she never had the heart to press charges on him so she would bail him out of jail every time. Zsa hated Friday nights. Every time her parents fight Zsa would take her little sister and go to Malachi house and they stay there until things clam down. Now it is five years later and Zsa has her own car and she thinks she has the perfect boyfriend named Ameen. He is smart, handsome and he buys her whatever she wants. Ameen might seem like the perfect boy friend, but he gets very angry with Zsa and he abuses her. Zsa can't see the bad things that Ameen is doing to her because she loves him so much. She is second guessing everything because her childhood boyfriend Malachi has came back to town. So now Zsa is confused about who she wants to be with since Malachi was her first love.
First, there are a lot of characters that are involved in this story. Zsa is the main character, she is a teenager in high school. She is smart, pretty, and popular. She is having trouble with her love life and her family. Zsa has two best friends Courtney and Asha. They are true friends to Zsa and they are always there for her even when she act very foolish. Ameen is Zsa current boyfriend, he is very conceited and he abuses her. He acts like he is her father by trying to control her, but since Ameen buys Zsa nice gifts she forgives him every time he abuses her. Zsa mother has not really been an attentive mother since Zsa's father died. Her mom is always at work and hardly ever home to cook or clean. Malachi is a special character in this story Malachi is Zsa first love. He is sweet, smart and he takes care of his responsibilities.

Next, there are some plot events. For example, One day While zsa was out with Ameen, Zsa sees a familiar face she hasn’t seen in awhile. It was Malachi her childhood boyfriend> He was her first love. Now while Zsa is overjoyed Ameen becomes jealous and his jealousy turns into anger so he slaps her because he felt that she was disrespecting him. Another event was when Zsa and Ameen had broken up. Zsa had gone to a club called Chocolate Bar with Courtney and Asha. While they were at the club Zsa saw Ameen there with another girl, so Zsa confronted Ameen and slapped him. Ameen was so mad that he punched Zsa in her face. Everyone in the club was surprised and guess who was in the club too? It was Malachi and he was so furious that he and his friends beat Ameen up.

To continue,I think the author of this book audience is for teenagers that are girls. She talks about her life journey of her love life,home life,mistakes,missteps and etc. She makes this story cool, funny, and interesting for girl teens. So lets be honest we teen girls like to read lovely things, but we also like to read juicy drama which is in this book.

Finally,the message of this story is that if you are in an abusive relationship you need to get out. An abuser does not love you. He can cause you great harm or even death. Do know, that there can be a special person out there for you who will love and respect you. But you must leave that abuser to receive the good.

[Kayla Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about this girl who is a teenager and shes in an abusive relationship. She tries to leave the boy but she cannot help it. Then one day she sees this boy which was one of her old friends. She runs into him one day and after that day they started getting closer and closer. The girl's boyfriend was getting very jealous so they got into a fight and he hit her. That's when the girl got tired of being beat so she left him.
The girl and her old friend started going out and their relationship was really good. One day the girl and her boyfriend were hanging out and the girl's ex boyfriend saw them together. When her ex saw them he got really mad. The girl saw how mad she got but she did not care because she already had a boyfriend that loves and treats her right. When she saw him she turned around and smirked.
The authors purpose for writing this book is to get teenagers to have something to relate to. The part that some teenagers can relate too is the part where she's getting abused. Another part is when she wants to leave the relationship but she can't because she's too scared of what he's going to do. This book is an interesting book I think teenagers would be able to relate to it the most, especially teenage girls.

[Kayla Luckett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teenage love Affair is the one of my favorite books i have ever read. As a teenager myself, I can really relate to the main character Zsa-Zsa. Having to look after her younger sibling while her mother works long hours, I know how it exactly how it feels.

I feel like i could become a part of the story, take her place and help her out with all the drama she goes through. Having your first love triangle at 17 can be veryyyyy life changing.

This book was full of unexpected twists and turns. Growing up without a father can really take its tole on a person especially a young female. She has no one to show her the ropes from a mans perspective. Her mother is never really home so Zsa-Zsa has to learn everything on her own. The point of the book , i feel, was to show and tell how even at a young age you can be in abusive relationships but you can get through that with the help and support of your family and friends.

The author did a good job on writing this book to where people can actually relate and really get into it. she did a great job on the dialect. She used slang like us younger readers would have used.

[Kyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well I just read this book in iss(jail lol) it will keep your attention. So zsa-zsa is a 17 year old girl in high school jut like everybody else. But on friday nights things at her home are much different from everyone else's home. Her dad has a drinking problem and always brings home Chinese food which she hates.Her dad often beats here mother. Her brother Derrick always leaves on friday nights because he know whats going to happen. Zsa-Zsa and her younger sister would always be woken up in the middle of the night because the wall would be jumping from her father beating her mother. Zsa-Zsa has a friend Malachi that lives upstairs from her she can escape to when her and her sister need to. But the one time she really need needs him he his not there for her. Zsa-Zsa life begins to take many ups and downs after this................ Enjoy the book if you get the chance.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

to all the lady's out there don't allow a man to beat the living sense out of you. It dosen't matter if you hit him first don't be stupid think smart it doesn't matter if it yo ex....btw zsa-zsa was crazy for letting ameen beat her down and thought it would be okay if she ignored the sitituation. I felt bad for malachi he was being treated like a dawg in the mudd with the way zsa-zsa was actting...courtney a fool...asha the bestest bestfriend any girl wouldn't mind havin...ameen jus need 2 be in jail where he belong....COWARD!!!!

[Kadejha 15 · Rating 5 out of 5]

zsa-zsa has this boy that she likes at first because he was always there when her family was fighting on friday but one friday he up a left and it broke her heart. Then she found someone and he was getting paid but was hitting on her from time to time. Her long lost crush comes back in the picture and everything changes. she is really torn between the to but who will she choose u'll have to read it to find out.

[Breya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teenage love affair is one of my favorite books by ni-ni simone , she is a incredible author. This book really got to me though , threw out all her books.She learns how to be independant by herself because her mom is a crack head and she has to take care of her little siblings and still has a life of her own. This is why this is one of my favorite books.

[Tiara Saddler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. This book is excellent for teenage girls and if guys are into this book. This book really takes your interest. Itas like when your reading this book you don't want to stop until the. this is also one of those books that if you are at the end of the book your upset that its just ended.

[Nicole]

i never read it. waiting to read it

[JazzyRacquel · Rating 4 out of 5]

♥ Great Book ! ♥

[Cathy]

Can I read it on this app ?

[Sophia Bitere · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as i struggled getting through this book, i hated for it to end! I will definatley be reading more of ni-ni Simmone books.

[Akeirah Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book talks about a Teenage Love affair, Every grils first experience.

[Regina taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love it it made me cry i really love this book

[Alisha walter · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's ok

[Da'Yonna Gunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by none other than the ever so talented Miss Ni-Ni Simone wat can i say i wouldn't expect anything less from her...keep it up!

[BCPL Youth Services Librarian]

Click to see book in BCPL's online catalog