No One’s Baby

Lizzie,17, lives with her mother Eileen in Joshua Creek, a middle class, mainly Caucasian community in Ontario, Canada. Lizzie’s biological parents, who gave her up at birth, were mixed race, and Eileen and her deceased adoptive father are both white. Growing up in a privileged community, Lizzie struggles with her identity and her strained relationship with her adopted mother. While her father was alive, he urged Lizzie to be proud of her biracial identity whereas Lizzie believes that her mother wants Lizzie to hide her ethnicity, and, as a result, the two struggle to connect. Lizzie’s boyfriend, Damon, does nothing to help Lizzie with her situation as he is an angry teenager who has led a troubled life. Then one night of carelessness with Damon changes Lizzie’s life forever. Lizzie becomes pregnant, and Damon wants nothing to do with her or their future child. Lizzie’s only friend, Priya, provides her with some support, but Lizzie refuses to tell Eileen that she is pregnant. The pregnancy quickly ignites a desire in Lizzie to find her birth mother, and she sets off alone, without money or a plan, to her birthplace of Kingston, Ontario.

Lizzie’s time in Kingston is marred by a brief stay in a shelter that leaves her reeling from a physical fight with an out of control resident. Lizzie then finds a temporary place to live at a home for pregnant girls and some guidance from the childbirth teacher who recounts her own story of rape and pregnancy. While staying in the home, Lizzie barely escapes being lured into prostitution by a fellow resident before ultimately finding friendship and assistance from a social worker she meets at the local donut shop. The social worker, Curtis, and his wife put Lizzie in touch with a nurse who, when given Lizzie’s surname from birth, remembers Lizzie’s birth mother from the hospital years ago. Lizzie makes an appointment to meet with the nurse and find out more about her biological mother only to receive an urgent request the same day from her mother, via Priya, to come home quickly. Lizzie’s Mom has been diagnosed with cancer. Lizzie comes to the realization that the mother she has is more important than the quest to find her birth mother, and she returns home to Joshua Creek to tell Eileen the truth. On learning of Lizzie’s pregnancy, Eileen is supportive and eager to help Lizzie co-parent the child and complete Lizzie’s schooling via correspondence.

No One’s Baby is Wanda Taylor’s latest title for Lorimer Publishing’s “SideStreets” series. “SideStreets” produces short, topical novels for reluctant readers, novels which feature real world themes. No One’s Baby is an emotional ride that touches on many very sensitive topics: teen pregnancy, abortion, adoption, racism, prostitution, ethnicity and rape. While the story is told in the third person narrative, readers will notice that a distinctly adult perspective often creeps in when Lizzie’s thoughts and feelings are described: “Lizzie knew some black people resented lighter-skinned people. But the prejudice dated back to the history of slavery in the United States and Canada. How could resentment from generations ago have any effect on her life?” While such information is important, the adult voice temporarily takes the reader out of a story that is otherwise full of action and drama. Regardless, Taylor tackles difficult issues head on, matter of factly and with sensitivity. Although No One’s Baby fits the bill for high interest accessible fiction, it is not for the faint of heart and should be recommended with trigger warnings.