Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far
Bristol Palin
$25.99 / adult
Release date: June 21, 2011
The world knows who Bristol Palin is. The daughter of the Republican vice presidential candidate in the 2008 elections, Bristol was thrust into the spotlight and endured intense scrutiny after the media became aware of the 17-year-old’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy. But do we really know the truth? Bristol sets the records straight in Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far. [The title is truly unfortunate; as an upper-middle-class white girl from a prominent family, I'm not really sure what she has to be afraid of.]
Bristol opens with a serious allegation against baby daddy Levi Johnson: that he took her virginity on a camping trip while she was too drunk to know what was going on. Although this is clearly an incident of rape, if Bristol’s account is wholly true, that word is never mentioned (which is unfortunate). In fact, she doesn’t even break up with him! However, she does tell them they won’t be having sex again until marriage, and he respects her choice.
Bristol recounts her upbringing in Alaska, which is, surprisingly, very interesting. Life in Alaska seems tough, and I can see why Alaskans have a lot of state pride. Bristol’s life is fairly average until her mother is elected governor. [Did you know that the capital of Alaska (Juneau) is not accessible by car? I find that fascinating.] She provides a peek into what life was like at the governor’s mansion (she didn’t care for the decor in her bedroom, they had a live-in chef for a brief time), though she was never very happy there.
Of course, Bristol’s life gets a lot more interesting when she discovers she’s pregnant with Levi’s baby– and her mother is announced as McCain’s running mate. Although Bristol’s statements to the effect of “the world was out to get my mother” sound pathetic [Sure, I'd be upset if people were saying untrue things about my mother, particularly in a public forum, but her mother is in politics, and did she not hear what people were saying about Obama? It goes both ways.], the campaign trail from the perspective of a 17-year-old is worth reading (especially for the dirt she slings at Megan McCain, though to be fair, Megan McCain started it).
Bristol also discusses, of course, the birth of her son, Tripp, followed by her 20- seconded engagement to Levi and the humiliation she felt afterwards.
Bristol does deserve some credit– she managed to graduate from high school, on time, with an enviable GPA, despite the campaign, being pregnant, having a drama-rama baby daddy and bouncing around to different high schools due to her mother’s career. Most of the girls on 16 & Pregnant can’t make that happen, even those who also come from similarly well-off families. She’s taken advantage of opportunities presented to her (Dancing with the Stars, advocating for abstinence with the Candie’s foundation, writing a book) to provide for her son. She’s essentially just another teen mom who made some questionable decisions and tried (and failed) to make a family with her baby daddy, all in the public eye.
That said, I wish Bristol had kept her insults towards Levi to herself. I want to give her a pass because she’s 20, but there’s a good chance Tripp will read her book someday, and your mom slamming your dad (in print!) is not cool.
Although Not Afraid of Life is marketed as an adult book, Bristol seemed to have a teen audience in mind while writing. Written in an extremely readable, conversational tone, teens will be attracted to the tabloid-aspect of Bristol’s story, but might come away with a lesson on the realities of teen pregnancy.
Disclosure: Reviewed from library copy