Unbecoming: A Novel & Self-Help Guide
by Seema Yasmin
High School    Simon    352 pp.
7/24    9781665938440    $19.99
e-book ed.  9781665938464    $10.99

In this near-future version of Texas, abortion is a crime punishable by a lifetime jail sentence. Abortion pills and IVF are also illegal. Enter two Muslim teens: Laylah, an ultra-organized, straight Indian American who has her sights set on becoming a gynecologist; and Noor, a queer Palestinian American who dreams of becoming an investigative journalist. The two are writing a step-by-step guide for teens on obtaining safe abortions; it’s only after Laylah discovers she is pregnant that she realizes how unrealistic the guide is, particularly the difficulty of obtaining abortion pills. Feeling deep sharam (a neologism Laylah coins combining the words shame and haram, something forbidden in Islam), Laylah keeps her pregnancy secret, while Noor has a secret of her own: she’s investigating the wife of the local imam, whom she suspects of stealing mosque donations. Along the way, Noor and Laylah discover the unlikeliest of allies and learn that “everyone is so much more than they appear to be.” The book is peppered with Bollywood and American pop cultural references and includes a disturbing yet fascinating subplot in which Laylah learns about state-sponsored sterilization in 1970s India. This nuanced representation of Muslim views on reproductive rights is a timely, fast-paced novel that spins a terrifying, cautionary tale about a possible future.

From the ">November/December 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.