Unbecoming, by Seema Yasmin

In this nearly-fictional YA dystopian novel, Texas is imagined as a place that has outlawed and criminalized all abortions.  Even hormonal drugs and basic medical supplies (like the gel for ultrasounds) are carefully monitored and regulated.  Some activity is even a capital offense, creating a state of fear.  But in the midst of all that danger, a system of undercover mobile clinics still struggle to make OB-GYN services available, including birth control, IVF, and abortion.  Working against them are not only the police, but gangs of armed vigilantes trying to track down the renegades at all cost.  Nearly fiction or maybe not fictional enough?

Laylah and Noor are two Muslim teens who have taken it upon themselves to produce a guide for their fellow Texas teens about what to do if you find out that you're pregnant and want to terminate it.  Noor is a diehard journalist with a conviction to getting her facts right and keeping the guide relevant and up-to-date.  That's a particular challenge when the people who are providing services are constantly on the move and trying to stay hidden.  Laylah is the scientific mind with plans to enter a pre-med program and become an OB-GYN.  So when she discovers that she is pregnant, she is afraid of what the pregnancy will do to her career plans.  Suddenly, the guide is even more important to her and her fact checking work takes on a personal urgency.

For a book vying for Most Likely to Be Banned From Your School Library, the novel disappoints.  A great premise and a strong start get quickly bogged down in a series of poorly paced adventures as Laylah struggles to find a source for medications for her abortion.  Whether it's to create dramatic tension or to simply pad out the story, everything is s t r e t c h e d out and made entirely more complicated than it needs to be.  As the story progressed, I great more and more annoyed at the digressions.  This is topped off towards the end by a very powerful but largely unrelated story that packs a punch but serves to suck the energy out of the climax.  We get feels and a lot of deep thoughts but no decent release of the dramatic tension of the main plot.  

It's a gutsy book with a lot to say and occasional laugh-out-loud moments, but overall poor storytelling.