Kayla Watson

2011 Common Read Essay Contest Winner

Susan Straight’s Highwire Moon is a novel about love, loss, mother-daughter relationships, and current societal issues, such as illegal immigration, drug use, and teenage pregnancy. In particular, teenage pregnancy has become a major societal problem over the last decade. In fact, three in ten women will become pregnant before age twenty and that amounts to approximately 745,000 teenage pregnancies a year (“Teen,” Stay Teen). The United States has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates among developed countries. Susan Straight’s decision to portray her two main characters, Serafina and Elvia, as teen mothers allows her to creatively bring to light how big a problem teenage pregnancy is in the United States. She presents this issue in a way that allows readers to feel compassion for Serafina and Elvia. Many people see teen pregnancy as a fad made glamorous by television shows, such as “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom.” Society sees these women as uneducated and promiscuous. Straight, however, is able to show the emotional tug of war teenage pregnancy brings and, most importantly, the love between mothers and daughters. Serafina’s love for Elvia and Elvia’s search to find her mother vividly shows the love between this mother daughter pair. It is one of the central themes of the novel.

In the novel, fifteen-year-old Serafina comes to the United States from Mexico and finds herself pregnant. When Serafina’s daughter Elvia is three, Serafina tries to go to a church to pray but is arrested as an illegal immigrant. She tries to tell the police that her daughter, “[m]ydotter” (Straight 6) is asleep in her car, but they cannot understand her. Serafina is deported without her daughter. Elvia is put in foster care until the age of twelve when her father, Larry, finally finds her. Now fifteen, Elvia becomes pregnant and lacks a mother for guidance. She engages in a quest to find her mother and, ultimately, to find herself. Elvia and Serafina’s stories highlight the major problem of teenage pregnancy in the United States: daughters of teen mothers are more likely to become teen moms themselves, many children of teen moms grow up in single parent households, and, consequently, many children of teen moms grow up in poverty.

Daughters of teenage mothers are three times more likely to later become teen mothers themselves (“The Real Teen Mom”). Highwire Moon highlights this problem by having Elvia become pregnant at the exact same age Serafina became pregnant with her. Both are fifteen when they become pregnant. The pregnancy rate for girls ages 15 to 17 is 38.9 per 1,000 girls, and for Latino girls it is 126.6 per 1,000 births for girls ages 15 to 19 (“Teen,” The National Campaign). Straight’s decision to make Elvia pregnant at the same age as her mother really underscores this real problem. It gives readers insight into this issue and helps them see it from the viewpoint of the teenage mother rather than as just another statistic. Readers cannot help but feel compassion for Elvia because she finds herself pregnant and no one to guide her because her mother is gone. In reflecting upon her sexual encounter with Michael, Elvia considers how much she needed a mother’s advice:

A mother was supposed to tell you. She was supposed to give you something to drink in a teacup with flowers, even if it wasn’t coffee like on the commercials, and then she’d tell you about feminine protection and where you put perfume and also, by the way, this is what happens when he takes off your shirt. He doesn’t even have to take your pants off all the way. (Straight 25)

This perspective and this storyline show the human side to all the statistics.

Another problem is that many children of teen moms are often raised in single parent households and many fathers don’t marry the mothers of their babies. In fact, 8 in 10 do not marry the mother of their child (“Teen,” Stay Teen). This was the case in Highwire Moon because Larry doesn’t marry Serafina. Also, Elvia is eventually raised by her father, which again, is contrary to the norm because often the teenage mothers end up raising their babies alone. However, the story does show the struggles of growing up in a single parent household. The reader can see Larry’s inability to make up for Elvia not having a mother. In reality, single teen mothers face the opposite problem. They cannot make up for the lack of a father. In the novel, the reader is made aware of the void this lack left inside of Elvia as she searches to find her mother and, finally, herself.

The situation of the single parent household contributes to yet another problem: children of teen moms often grow up in poverty, another statistic represented in Highwire Moon. Single teen moms and their children are 75% more likely to end up on welfare within five years (“Teen,” March of Dimes). In the novel, Elvia and her father seem to be struggling to live. Larry talks about how he works hard to feed them and keep a roof over their heads. “Let’s go. I got to be at the quarry before the sun comes up” (Straight 66). His comments suggest that they probably live at or near the poverty level. Although teen mothers often bear the financial burdens of raising a child, this novel shows a unique perspective of a single father trying to financially support and provide for his daughter. However, the financial struggles of raising a child of a teenager alone are still shown. It outlines the struggle of all single parents who do the best they can for their children.

Susan Straight’s Highwire Moon incorporates many current issues, revealing, in particular, the problem of teenage pregnancy. The novel shows the common statistic that many children of teen mothers later become teen mothers themselves. Straight does this by having Elvia become pregnant at the same age as her mother, the tender age of fifteen. The novel also puts a twist on the fact that the children of teen moms grow up in poverty and many children of teen moms are raised in single parent households. While many teen moms raise their children alone and end up on welfare, Straight has Larry raise his daughter. However, in line with statistics, Larry and Elvia are poor and Elvia is raised by a single parent. Another important fact illustrated in the novel is that the single parent cannot make up for the lack of the other parent. Larry cannot compensate for Elvia not having her mother around. When Elvia learns that her mother did love her and did not leave her on purpose, she is able to love herself. In doing this, she is able to connect to her mother and realize she is deserving of love and can raise her baby, just like her mother raised her. Unfortunately, in reality most teenagers do not have such an optimistic outcome as Elvia does. In reality, most teenage mothers end up alone, with no one to help them, living in poverty.

Works Cited

Straight, Susan. Highwire Moon. New York: Random House, 2001.

“Teen Pregnancy, Birth, and Sexual Activity Data.” The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Preganacy, n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2011.

“Teen Pregnancy.” March of Dimes. March of Dimes, Nov. 2009. Web. 1 Oct. 2011.

“Teen Pregnancy.” Stay Teen. Stayteen.org, n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2011.

“The Real Teen Mom: Alarming Statistics.” Dr. Phil.com. Dr. Phil, n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2011.

Editorial Comments: In the Fall 2011 semester, The Pick launched an essay contest to correlate with the English Department’s Common Read, Highwire Moon by Susan Straight. Students were invited to write and submit essays about the novel, and Kayla Watson’s work stood out among the entries. Her thorough discussion of one of the primary themes, teenage pregnancy, is not in-depth in regard to the topic, but her own opinion as well. By using statistics to relate to the dilemma in Highwire Moon, Ms. Watson approaches the story’s situation with practicality and a keen understanding. I am happy to once again congratulate her as the winner of the 1st Annual Pick Common Read Essay Contest, which I hope will become a tradition at Southeastern.