Her Daughter's Eyes

This story is about two teenage sisters, Kate and Tyler, who find themselves essentially orphaned after their mother dies of cancer and their father moves in with his new girlfriend. When teenagers are completely alone with no affection or guidance from anyone, nothing good can come of it. It is easy for an adult man to take advantage of Kate, by showing her affection and attention, and the girl becomes pregnant. Kate is terrified that the birth of the baby, and the discovery of the baby's father's identity, will not only push her own father even further away but also cause her to lose the one tiny person she now loves more than anything. So she and Tyler decide to deliver, and raise, the baby in secret. What could POSSIBLY go show more wrong?
This story made me feel a lot of anger at the adults who surround (or fail to surround) Kate and Tyler. Their father does the unthinkable when he moves in with his girlfriend and her young children, rationalizing that the teenagers are "almost grown" and no longer need him. The father's girlfriend makes things worse by helping to convince the father that her children, being very small, need a consistent father figure in the home way more than Kate and Tyler do. Other adults either fail to protect the girls, or hurt them even more. This book made me want to punch a lot of people in the noses!
Of course that means it is a good story, because it invokes such an emotional reaction. So I recommend this book to any lovers of stories about family drama. show less

I'm not sure why I picked up this book at a library book sale, nor why I put off reading it for six months, but it was both interesting and hard to read at the same time. The author places the girls in a made up town and renames the town I grew up in as "Oak Creek," but also uses some real towns in the area such as Pleasant Hill, Lafayette, Antioch and the county seat of Martinez. I enjoyed the chapters with Kate and Tyler the most and missed them when she wrote the point of view of other characters, though I knew it was mostly necessary.

Kate and Tyler are 17 and 15 respectively. They have been abandoned by both their father and mother in different ways. Abandonment and loss are the themes running through this book, with the teen-agers, while not always making good choices, still being strong and brave. Not so the adults. In fact, some of the actions by the adults are apalling. In the end, all of the characters have to face the consequences of their actions and start dealing with the underlying causes of those actions. Excellent book. Looking forward to reading more by this author.

This is a heartbreaking story of teen-aged sisters - one pregnant, the other her partner in helping to hide the circumstances from everyone. It's full of sadness and joy, love and despair. It should be required reading for teen-aged girls who think the love of a baby will conquer any problem.

A sweet, sad tearjerker. About Katie and her sister Tyler, who lose their mother to breast cancer. Their tather doesn't know how to handle his wife death and leaves his teenage daughters to handle it with little help from him. Katie is 17 and pregnant with her neighbors child. She handles this alone with only her sister to help; the baby is born at home. No one knew she was even pregnant. A good read!

A story about two teenage sisters who are essentially abandoned by their father after their mother dies of breast cancer. The older sister gives birth at home with the younger delivering the baby in secret. Sounded like it would be right up my alley, but I had a hard time really feeling for the characters although I think they are written very well and accurately. Gritty and somewhat reminiscent of Girls in Trouble.

In eeen rustige straat ergens in een buitenwijk, woont de zeventienjarige Kate Philips. Zij is zwanger en ongetrouwd