
When Susan Tate's seventeen-year-old daughter, Lily,
announces she is pregnant, Susan is stunned. A single
mother, she has struggled to do everything right. She sees
the pregnancy as an unimaginable tragedy for both Lily and
herself. Then comes word of two more pregnancies among high school
juniors who happen to be Lily's best friends-and the town
turns to talk of a pact. As fingers start pointing, the
most ardent criticism is directed at Susan. As principal
of the high school, she has always been held up as a role
model of hard work and core values. Now her detractors
accuse her of being a lax mother, perhaps not worthy of
the job of shepherding impressionable students. As Susan
struggles with the implications of her daughter's
pregnancy, her job, financial independence, and long-
fought-for dreams are all at risk. The emotional ties between mothers and daughters are
stretched to breaking in this emotionally wrenching story
of love and forgiveness. Once again, Barbara Delinsky has
given us a powerful novel, one that asks a central
question: What does it take to be a good mother?
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