Unexpecting
(Young Adult Book)

A poignant and emotional story about found family, what it means to be a parent, and falling in love. Benjamin Morrison is about to start his junior year of high school. While his family is challenging, he is pretty content with his life, with his two best friends, and with his role in the robotics club. Until an experiment at science camp has completely unexpected consequences. Ben is going to be a father, something his mother was not expecting after he came out as gay. She certainly wasn't expecting that he would want to raise the baby as a single father. But together they come up with a plan to prepare Ben for fatherhood and fight for his rights. The weight of Ben's decision presses down on him. He's always tired, his grades fall, and tension rises between his mom and stepfather. He's letting down his friends in the robotics club whose future hinges on his expertise. If not for his renewed friendship (and maybe more) with a boy from his past, he wouldn't be able to face the daily ridicule at school or his crumbling relationships with his best friends. With every new challenge, every new sacrifice he has to make, Ben questions his choice. He's lived with a void in his heart where a father's presence should have been, and the fear of putting his own child through that keeps him clinging to his decision. When the baby might be in danger, Ben is faced with a heart-wrenching realization: sometimes being a parent means making the hard choices even if they are the choices you don't want to make.