Two of Us Make a World: The Single Mother's Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the First Year

Presenting their material calmly, clearly and compassionately, the sisters Tippins, who are single mothers, extend supportive, family-like encouragement to their readers. Their approach is organized in four parts, covering each trimester of pregnancy and the baby's first year. The sections include chapters on physical and emotional well-being, relationships with the baby's father (consistently portrayed as frustrating), finding community support groups and resources, financial concerns--ranging from finding affordable housing to collecting welfare and child support--and workplace issues. While broadly informative (on everything from co-parenting agreements, alternative work schedules and even a list of famous single mothers in fiction), this quietly inspirational volume never oversimplifies the challenge of single motherhood but makes the prospect seem less daunting. Anne Lamott's (Operating Instructions) Foreword is itself almost worth the price of the book. (Jan.)