Unbecoming by Seema Yasmin

Unbecoming by Seema Yasmin. Simon & Schuster BFYR, 2024. 9781665938440

Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 4.5

Format: Hardcover fiction

Genre: Realistic

What did you like about the book? In a near future Texas, all abortions have been criminalized and even hormonal birth control and IVF have been outlawed. Besties Laylah and Noor are secretly writing a guide – “The Texas Teen’s Guide to Safe Abortion” – to help teens find care. Laylah, who’s premed and is so organized that she has written a life plan for herself, finds herself pregnant after her first sexual encounter. Pregnancy is not in the plan! She desperately looks for underground providers of mifepristone to help her end the pregnancy, but no one in the state seems to have any. She’s wallowing in fear and shame and tells no one, not even her best friend. Noor, on the other hand, has her own secret. She is a crack investigative journalist and is investigating the imam’s wife at Laylah’s mosque for money laundering. She cannot tell Laylah, because Laylah would be devastated. And she has a new crush. Can she share their work on the guide with her? Meanwhile, even Laylah’s beloved Nanima (grandmother) has a secret, readers can tell. Laylah is too distracted by her desperation to notice Nanima’s preoccupation with cell phones and deliveries.

Through a dual narrative, as well as planner entries, diagrams, drafts of the manual, MCAT test questions and even Bollywood lyrics, the two teens embark on increasingly dangerous and exciting secret journeys, never asking their adults for help, of course. Both teens are Muslim; Laylah is a hijabi and Noor is her gay best friend. It sounds like a trope, but each woman is fleshed out believably and on her own interesting journey. The scenario of illegal abortion is also realistic, and Laylah and Noor’s commitment to writing the guide is compelling. The suspense really amps up as Laylah gets more desperate to end her pregnancy, and Noor gets more daring in her undercover work. Ultimately, help comes unexpectedly from Nanima – Laylah gets her pills and Noor finds out the truth about the imam’s wife (it’s not what she thought!) Most characters are Brown or Black. Laylah is Indian; Noor is Palestinian.

Anything you didn’t like about it? No

To whom would you recommend this book? Teens, grades 9 and up who like feminist novels, especially with Muslim characters, such as Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf.

Who should buy this book? High school and public libraries

Where would you shelve it? Teen fiction

Should we (librarians/readers) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? Near the top

Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City and State: Stephanie Tournas, Robbins Library, Arlington, MA

Date of review: June 17, 2024