Fact of Life #31

by Denise Vega

Book Overview

Fact of Life #1: This is YA at its funniest, soulful best! Fact of Life #48: Kat's mom is No-Last-Name Abra, the best home-birth midwife in Colorado. But with her own daughter, Abra can't stop... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375848193
• ISBN13: 9780375848193
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 375 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

It's a Fact You Should Read This Book

Katima Flynn, better known as Kat, works for her mother at Abra's Midwifery. But even though she's more than competent around the office, she screws up at her first baby delivery. Kat is so embarrassed that she quits the job that she loves at the Midwifery and instead focuses her attention on pretraining for the triathlon she plans to compete in. Her role in new mothers' lives has been reduced to occasionally sketching their children's births. Kat feels extremely out of place. Add in a little boy drama, family issues, and unexpected new friends, and Kat is now on a life-changing journey. Fact of Life #31 was a cute and amusing novel. I really enjoyed reading from Kat's perspective. She's a funny girl who speaks her mind and usually knows what she wants. What I liked most about her, though, was that she knows she doesn't fit in at school and is mostly okay with it. Kat is a very realistic character. She is aware of her low social statues but can't help pining over a popular guy. I loved how pretty much all the characters that interacted with Kat had a positive influence on her. The plot is never too exciting, but since the characters are so wonderfully developed, I most definitely recommend this novel. Readers looking for an amusing yet meaningful story should definitely check out Kat's story in Fact of Life #31.

The Circle of Life. . . ;)

Denise Vega is a goddess when it comes to writing about relationships--in her first book, Click Here, she explored relationships for the middle school crowd. In Fact of Life #31, Vega introduces a new (and very strong) character, Katima. Kat is an amazingly talented and funky character--a mostly-vegetarian, yoga-practicing, triathlon-training artist who also helps her mom out in her midwifery a couple of days a week. Kat is so well-rounded and real that readers will love her, and the wealth of relationships explored in this book are beautiful: the reader sees both inter- and intrapersonal relationships--relationships between friends, sisters, boyfriends & girlfriends, husbands & wives, and parents & children. Vega is a master at putting her characters in difficult situations and allowing them to grow and work through things, and this book is no exception. Kat goes through some difficult times, but grows immensely as a person. ********BOOK DESCRIPTION AND SPOILERS COMING!!************ While Kat is helping her mother, Abra, at a birth, she makes a mistake that has her questioning herself and her work at the midwifery. Kat tells Abra that she needs to find a replacement for her but agrees to stay on in the interim. In the meantime, Kat's training for a triathlon and crosses paths with her crush for the last few years, Manny. Kat and Manny begin seeing each other regularly, but also secretly, because Kat isn't one of the "popular" crowd. Kat's relationship with her best friend Christy deteriorates when Kat and Christy argue, partially over Kat and Manny. Kat also overhears Manny talking badly about her and is extremely hurt by this. At this point, Kat's life reaches a low point. Throughout the story, too, Kat's been observing popular couple Mitch and Libby. When the couple breaks up and Libby shows up at Abra's midwifery, Kat doesn't know what to think. All of these factors combine into an emotional roller-coaster that had this reader staying up to all hours of the night to find out what happens to Kat! A beautiful exploration of life, love, and family; definitely a must-read!

Courtesy of Teens Read Too

Kat(ima) is invisible at Tabor High. Or if not exactly invisible, then freaky Yoga Girl. And her best friend is the girl that wears the crazy hats. And to make matters worse, her mom owns Midwifery. It's a New-Age type midwife service that allows pregnant women to birth at home naturally. Her mom simply goes by Abra. No last name, just Abra. Kat helps out there twice a week doing various office duties. The story starts off with Abra calling Kat up and begging her to assist with a birth. Kat has never done that before, and the couple having the baby is pleased to have Kat there. However, Kat fumbles through everything and makes a mess of it all. Her mom doesn't want her along any more, and in a fit of rebellion, Kat quits, agreeing to stay on until her mom is able to find a replacement. So junior year for Kat isn't off to a great start. Things may be looking up though when her crush of the last few years, Manny Cruz, asks her a question in Spanish class. Kat can count on her hand the number of interactions she's had with him previously. What started out as one innocent question soon turns into random meetings around town, and then soon the two are secretly dating. But at school, neither acknowledges the other. Enter Libby Giles, the beautiful "it" girl of the senior class. Libby has just broken it off with her boyfriend, Mitch. No one knows the full story, but it's obvious to all that Mitch was not the dumper, but the dumpee. In what turns into frequent chance encounters, Mitch and Kat keep running into each other. They soon form a hesitant friendship, and Mitch turns to Kat for advice in getting Libby back. An added plus to the friendship is that Manny and Mitch are friends, and Mitch actually approves of the secret friendship Manny and Kat have. During the course of the school year, there are ups and downs for Kat at school, with Manny, at home and with her best friend, Christy. The day Libby enters the Midwifery, everything Kat has assumed about others is thrown out the window. She must re-evaluate everything she has known and understood. Kat is a wonderful character that the reader immediately comes to love. Through her highs and lows, the reader is constantly rooting for her. All along the reader knows that Kat is stronger than she realizes, and the self-acceptance she gets in the end makes you want to stand up and applaud for her. Read FACT OF LIFE #31 and you too will come to learn that maybe there really aren't any true facts of life. Or are there? Reviewed by: Jaglvr

Kat's Cradle

Fact of Life #31 is a story about mothers and daughters. It's about midwives and classmates. It's about yoga and art. It's about crushes and feeling crushed. It's about breaking apart and coming back together. In her second novel, Denise Vega delivers a thoughtful, realistic story about friendships, families, firsts, and fresh starts. High school junior Kat describes her mother, Abra, as "the best home birth midwife in the Rocky Mountain region." Kat works in her mother's office as a receptionist, where she loves setting up playlists for the births and has a great connection with expectant parents, but finds herself uncomfortable and embarrassed during actual births. Her mom embarrasses her as well, but for different reasons. Though Kat respects what her mother is and what she does, she doesn't want her classmates to know about it. The only person who knows of Abra's profession is Kat's best friend, Christy, who has a nose for news and a fondness for funky hats. Kat is a self-motivated girl with a busy schedule. In addition to working for her mom, she's also training for an upcoming triathlon. At home, Kat checks in with her nine-year-old sister Lucy, chats with her dad, and paints murals when the mood strikes her. At school, she does yoga in the hallway in order to center herself. She starts seeing her long-time crush Manny and is more than a little startled to see someone she knows walk into her workplace. Abra gives Kat an old notebook from when she was a doula, first studying midwifery. Kat starts to fill a new notebook with her own "facts," such as "Fact of Life #87: People often believe what they want to believe." When she and Abra start clashing more and more often, Kat wants to stop working at the office altogether. An unexpected fight with Christy and ups-and-downs with Manny leave Kat wondering who she is supposed to believe and if she can ever make things right. Just what is Fact of Life #31? You'll have to read the book to find out!