Kaplan challenges the assumption, often reinforced by the popular media, that the African American community condones teen pregnancy, single parenting, and reliance on welfare. Especially telling are the feelings of frustration, anger, and disappointment expressed by the mothers and grandmothers Kaplan interviewed.

And in listening to teenage mothers discuss their problems, Kaplan hears firsthand of their misunderstandings regarding sex, their fraught relationships with men, and their difficulties with the educational system - all factors that bear heavily on their status as young parents.

Kaplan's own experience as an African American teenage mother adds a personal dimension to this book, and she offers substantial proposals for rethinking and reassessing the class factors, gender relations, and racism that influence Black teenagers to become mothers.