Plan A

 

Plan A by Deb Caletti

Labyrinth Road, 9780593485545

16-year old Ivy is strong, independent, opinionated…and pregnant.  She has plans and hopes and dreams for her future, and that future does not involve a child originating from sexual assault.  

Unfortunately for Ivy, she lives in contemporary Texas, which has some of the most restrictive women’s health laws in the country.  Ivy doesn’t realize that she is pregnant until she has passed the 6-week mark, after which an abortion is illegal in her home state.  Fortunately for Ivy, she is not alone:  her mother, grandmother, and a host of other women (and men) are willing to prioritize her choices, and so begins what Ivy and her adorable boyfriend Lorenzo call their “abortion road trip love story.”  

This book is serious and funny, timeless and timely.  It will absolutely be banned and challenged, and should absolutely be available for any reader who wants it–because these choices are important, and stories about these choices are possibly even more important. Highly recommended for ages 14 to adult.

Abortion, birth control, bullying, cussing, diversity, friendship, high school, kissing, parents, pregnancy, rainbow+, religion, sexual assault (on-page), Star Trek sex

Nigeria Jones

Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi
Harper Collins Publishers, 9780062888846

16-year-old Nigeria Jones was raised to be a warrior princess, fight against White Supremacy and support the Movement headed by her father, the famous Black separatist Kofi Sankofa. Without her mom’s support, Nigeria questions her own place in her father’s vision, especially when she begins to explore the world on her own and discovers that people don’t always sort into tidy categories.

The narration is instantly engaging, and although the astute reader will predict some of her revelations, Nigeria’s journey is a compelling page-turner. The on-page sex scene is poetic rather than specific. Recommended for ages 12 to adult.

Abortion, bullying, cussing (mild), death, diversity, friendship, gay friends, high school, homophobia, kissing, mental health, on-page sex, parents, pregnancy, racism, teachers.

Aftercare Instructions

Aftercare Instructions  by Bonnie Pipkin

17-year-old Genesis Johnson walks out into the waiting room at the Planned Parenthood clinic and discovers that Peter, her boyfriend and one true love, is gone.  Cramping and bleeding after the abortion she has just endured, Gen can't believe he has abandoned her.  But he isn't waiting for her, and he won't answer her calls or texts.  What else could it mean?

Events are revealed in alternating formats:  the present day episodes are a straightforward narration, but flashbacks to the past are written as a stage play starring Gen, Peter, and a few important supporting characters.  The details revealed build a story that will surprise readers almost as much as it surprises Genesis herself.

The chapters are titled with excerpts from the aftercare instructions booklet provided by the abortion clinic, which serves as an anchor point for the story and also offers insight into events as they unfold. 

Recommended for readers ages 14 to adult.

The Truth About Alice

The Truth about Alice    by Jennifer Mathiew                                

978-1-59643-909-2     Roaring Press, 2014           $16.99                   199p

Alice lives in a small town in Texas.  Rumor has it that she slept with two boys at a party.  That rumor spreads like…well…the internet at warp speed. Rumor also has it that she sent sexually explicit texts to one of those boys later that ended in his death- reading texts while driving.  Rumor went on to say that she had an abortion.  

All rumors.  All spread like wildfire.  She is dumped by her best friend.  She has her own “slut stall” in the bathroom where sharpies spread more rumors.

This story is told in alternating chapters, by all the characters except Alice.  

She does talk in the final chapter.  

Perhaps a cross between Mean Girls and Gossip Girls, this is about the same ilk.  Will you read this as a gossip to find out what is true or not, but still tuned in?  Will you read this sympathetically having been there or known someone who was there?

For readers 16 and up.

Over You

Over You.  Amy Reed.  Simon Pulse, 2013.  978-1-4424-5696-9.  $16.99.

Max and Sadie are best friends. 

“We have always understood our relationship comes first.”  

Max is the one who drives them home when Sadie is too drunk; she is the one on standby when Sadie climbs into a car full of boys; she is the one always protecting Sadie.  So when they are shuffled off for the summer from Seattle to the Nebraska commune where Sadie’s mom lives, it will be all right because they are together. Even when they encounter obvious bad boy Dylan, an attraction for both girls.  

However, when Sadie comes down with Mono, Max must carry on without her- alone.  She has never been without Sadie to care for.  She doesn’t even know who she is without Sadie and feels like she is floating through life.  But Dylan is still there, unexpectedly now next door the new yurt she must occupy since Sadie is quarantined.

Max calls herself bisexual, but there is little angst over this.  A past love is explained, but this is just a statement, not to be addressed again, even when Sadie yells it out at the first party they attend in Nebraska.  Max has a good relationship with her father, but her mother is emotionally unavailable.  It is Max that is the stronger part of the relationship, and Max who must figure out her own needs- and whether or not they include a relationship with Dylan.  It is after all, Sadie, who is also drooling over Dylan and Sadie who always gets what she wants.

Max is studying ancient literature, and each chapter is interspersed with a myth or poem that she restates to make sense of her own story.

Abortion, bi-sexual issues, drinking, drugs, Start Trek sex