Holding on to Zoe (review)

Sixteen-year-old Jules, now pregnant, is intrigued by the idea of carrying a new life, because she sees it as having the potential to give her own life direction. When she finds out that it's an ectopic pregnancy, she refuses to believe her baby won't be born. Her refusal becomes pathological; convinced that she has had the baby and now works at a Toyota factory with baby safe in the company daycare room, Jules organizes her life around caring for Zoe. Even when she loses her job—that is, comes home from the mental hospital—she continues in her delusion, accepting the help of a therapist only because the therapist pretends that Zoe is real. Jules' blinded narration could make the truth about Zoe a twist, but the text tips its hand early on, so that the only one who believes that Zoe is real is Jules herself. While the book underexplains Jules' problem somewhat, the strength of her delusion is remarkable, and her mother's emotional coldness gives some indication as to why Jules so insistently prefers her own perspective of the world to the real one. The real value of this story, though, is the insightful sensitivity with which Jules' early consideration of her pregnancy is treated, and the way it gives purpose and focus to her aimless existence; readers will gain an important new perspective on why some teens welcome the idea of pregnancy.