Saying Good-Bye to London

Gr 8 Up—When Francis and Sawyer meet at a community center dance, the chemistry is instantaneous. Francis, a shy 15-year-old who attends a private all-boys school, is approached by Sawyer, a beautiful 16-year-old girl from the other side of Vancouver. After dancing the night away, Francis and Sawyer begin a relationship, and their romance is intense and all-consuming. Not long after, Sawyer learns that she is pregnant. When she tries to tell Francis, her best friend, Jack, is there for moral support. Francis, not realizing that Jack is gay, is upset by the closeness Sawyer and Jack share, and he runs away, thinking that Jack is the father. Eventually, though, Francis has to face the fact that he is responsible for the pregnancy. With the help of his friend, Francis talks to Sawyer, and she is clear: she is going to give the baby up for adoption. Soon, the teens, along with their friends, are combing an adoption agency's website to find the perfect parents for London, their name for the baby. This novel struggles to impart important messages about adoption, safe sex, and acceptance of sexual preferences. Unfortunately, it reads like the plot of a 1980s after-school TV special. The characters are undeveloped, and while they try earnestly to locate the ideal family for baby London, the idea of a teen committee all working together to complete this task seems contrived and unbelievable.