THE TRUTH ABOUT MAURA

A teen deals with the fallout when her abortion becomes public knowledge.

As 17-year-old Maura Ellard is leaving the women’s clinic where she terminated her pregnancy, she’s spotted by Maxine, a classmate she barely knows, who later violates her privacy by revealing this information on social media. Maura is comfortable with the choice she made—she’s relieved, knowing she did the right thing for herself—but she wanted to keep it private: “My body isn’t a freaking political statement.” Instead, she’s barraged by online harassment and snubbed by her best friend. She also has to deal with her mom’s and ex-boyfriend’s feelings. She deletes all her social media apps, a move that makes her feel like she “just ate a cup of warm chicken noodle soup.” The only person Maura feels comfortable with is Dane, a new classmate from Toronto. As her feelings for him develop, Maura faces the rumor that her pregnancy was the result of an assault and must decide how far she’ll go to prove it’s untrue. In this well-written work for striving readers, Maura is refreshingly straightforward about her choice to have an abortion even as she struggles with everyone else’s opinions. Whatever their own feelings on the matter, readers will sympathize with Maura when personal information is shared online without her consent and root for her to find a healthy new relationship. Most characters are cued white.

A thoughtful, skillfully presented treatment of a timely topic.