Plan A by Deb Caletti

Plan A by Deb Caletti. Labyrinth Road/ Random House, 2023. 9780595485545

Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 5

Format: Hardcover

Genre: Realistic fiction

What did you like about the book? 16-year-old Ivy lives in small town Paris, Texas with her younger brother and her Mom.  She has been working at a pharmacy for two years where she is actually the assistant manager saving money for college.  She has a great boyfriend, Lorenzo, unique, loving and supportive.  Then she discovers that she is pregnant which she thought was impossible and the father is not Lorenzo and she has never had sex… It’s 2023 and it’s Texas: abortion is illegal after 6 weeks.  She needs to get to Oregon where her mother is from and where her aunt and grandmother still live.  She knows she will be ostracized if anyone in her small town finds out, no matter the circumstances. You can imagine what results when the positive pregnancy test stick falls out of her backpack in the classroom –

Her mother and brother are totally understanding and helpful, ready to drive her to Oregon but it is Lorenzo who takes her.  So there is the road trip and the relationship with Lorenzo and there is the reader’s waiting and waiting to find out just how Ivy got pregnant and what will happen when she returns back home.  Caletti’s insight into human psyches is incredible.  Lots of humor here, too.  All characters are presumed white.

Anything you did not like about the book? No.

To whom would you recommend this book? Another outstanding teen abortion story is Unpregnant by Jenni Hendricks and Ted Caplan.  Caletti’s other books are also highly recommended especially The Epic Story of Every Living Thing.

Who should buy this book? Public and high school libraries

Where would you shelve it? YA fiction

Should we (librarians) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? Yes.

Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City: Katrina Yurenka, Retired Librarian, Contributor, Youth Services Book Review

Date of Review:  October 25, 2023