BIOLOGY LESSONS

A teenager from Texas must figure out how to get an abortion.

When high school senior Grace Williams starts tutoring Jack Nelson so he can keep his grades up and stay on the baseball team, she doesn’t expect their sessions to go from helping with his biology class to kissing to having sex. But then Grace learns the unimaginable: She’s six weeks pregnant—in Texas, a state with harsh abortion restrictions. Texas legislation could prevent her from getting an abortion or result in legal consequences for herself and anyone who helps her if she travels to another state to get one. Determined not to let her unplanned pregnancy ruin her dreams of moving to New York City and attending Barnard in the fall, Grace and her closest friends, Addie and Sebastian, devise a way to get her the healthcare she needs. Grace faces multiple roadblocks, including a judgmental doctor at a pregnancy crisis center and her family, who would never agree to her choosing to get an abortion. Grace’s anger at the position she finds herself in sometimes comes across as surface level but largely feels very realistic. Her story makes for a compelling read that frankly acknowledges how and why a person might choose abortion and examines the ways that strict abortion laws can harm pregnant people. Grace and her friends are white.

A quick, readable, and relevant novel.