I read Plan A by Deb Caletti because I’ve seen it listed on some Mock Printz Award shortlists. The Printz Award is given for the best YA of the previous year. Plan A was published in 2023, so if it wins a Printz Award, it will happen on January 22, 2024. This review was written in mid-December 2023.
To say I did not like this book is an understatement, and it’s nothing at all to do with the abortion topic. I am very much pro-choice and have read several other YA books about abortion that I did enjoy.
So what didn’t I like? Well, grab a cup of coffee and read on. I have much to say about Plan A.
Author: Deb Caletti
Copyright: 2023
Genre: realistic fiction, contemporary romance
Setting: small, ultra-conservative and religious town of Paris, Texas; multiple western and mid-western US states
Recommended for: Grades 8-12
Themes: teen pregnancy, sexual assault, abortion, road trips, dating and relationships, mothers and daughters, consent, toxic masculinity, power imbalances
Protagonist: female, age 16, white
Starred reviews: Kirkus, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, SLJ
Pages: 416
PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY
Ivy can’t entirely believe it when the plus sign appears on the test. She didn’t even know it was possible from…what happened. But it is, and now she is, and instead of spending the summer working at the local drugstore and swooning over her boyfriend, Lorenzo, suddenly she’s planning a cross-country road trip to her grandmother’s house on the West Coast, where she can legally obtain an abortion.
Escaping her small Texas town and the judgment of her friends and neighbors, Ivy hits the road with Lorenzo, who, determined to make the best of their “abortion road trip love story,” has transformed the journey into a whirlwind tour of the world: all the way from Paris, Texas, to Rome, Oregon…and every rest-stop diner and corny roadside attraction along the way.
And while Ivy can’t run from the incessant pressure of others’ opinions about her body or from her own expectations and insecurities, she discovers a new world of healing and hope. As the women she encounters share their stories, she chips away at the stigma, silence, and shame surrounding reproductive rights while those collective experiences guide her to her own rightful destination.
THE SHORT VERSION
This story is overlong and full of implausible details.
WHAT I LIKED
I always start with what I liked, but unfortunately, I didn’t like much in Plan A.
I do think this is an important topic for teens, and I totally agree with the author’s take on abortion and medical choice. If you thought I was going to say otherwise, you were wrong. The pro-choice aspect of this book is hands-down my favorite part.
The portrayals of the small Texas town were also interesting. Ivy lives in a small town where most people (not Ivy’s family) attend the local mega-church. Ivy’s best friend Faith is especially annoying and naive, but she’s a product of her upbringing. I lived in Texas for 18 years, and there are certainly plenty of “Faiths” in the real world.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
This book got 4 starred professional reviews and is on some shortlists for a Printz Award next month.
Did I read the same book? Is this book getting these kudos because it’s actually GOOD, or is it more because it’s a hot-button topic with a clear agenda? Even if I agree with the agenda, I prefer it weren’t clobbered over my head constantly like it was here.
Imagine what this would be like for people who weren’t pro-choice or who were conflicted about it. I guess they probably wouldn’t read too far, would they? I believe people who read Plan A will likely already be pro-choice, so there is little need for all the abortion statistics and constant running on about choice. We’re with you on this already, Deb Caletti.
But all that aside, I have so many problems with this book.
There will be some spoilers here…you’ve been warned! Here goes…
It’s overlong.
There is zero reason these characters had to take a week-long road trip. There are planes and airports in both Texas and Oregon. It would have been cheaper to fly than to pay for gas and hotels and food. Lorenzo’s truck is old and unsafe and does break down, causing them to have to fly back to Texas at the end anyway.
The author gives no reason to justify why this HAD to be a road trip, other than for the sake of story. Had Ivy flown to Oregon, this book could have focused more on the small town before and after her abortion. Ivy still has to live there, still has to go to school, still has to deal with the judgment of her friends and classmates.
Not reporting the sexual assault.
Ivy gets pregnant as the result of a sexual assault (more on that in a minute). The boy who assaulted Ivy deserves punishment. He deserves to have his name smeared all over town, just like Ivy’s was. Talking about what happened with authorities, smearing his name all over town…these would have been so satisfying for the reader and therapeutic for Ivy. But Ivy stays mum about him. Why?
Ivy is supposedly so fierce by the end, but she never even considers going to the police. Maybe they wouldn’t believe her, and maybe nothing would have happened to the boy anyway. But at least there would still be a record.
This boy will assault another girl; doesn’t Ivy have a responsibility to that girl to report her own assault? I just hate how not reporting sexual assault is so common and normalized.
The terrible mother.
Yes, I know she’s supposed to be this perfect and supportive mother. But y’all, I have my own 16-year old, a boy. There is no way on this planet I would allow him to drive across multiple states with his 18-year old girlfriend of a few weeks. For any reason. And especially not after something as emotional as a recent sexual assault and abortion.
The mother should have been with them on the trip. Or even better, it should have just been Ivy and her mother. Too-perfect and ridiculously mature Lorenzo brings nothing to this story. The mother really could have.
Also, at age 16, Ivy is sexually assaulted and has an abortion, all in a few weeks time. Why is she not in any therapy? She was sexually assaulted, and that’s it? No psychological effects?
The way Ivy got pregnant.
This gets a big ol’ HUH? from me. Why not just make Lorenzo the father? That would be realistic, and it would be a stronger reason for Lorenzo to come along on the trip. Instead we have some incredibly rare immaculate conception sexual assault. Why did the author make this choice? Maybe it’s technically possible, but it is definitely not realistic.
But hey, at least Ivy remains pure and virginal for Lorenzo, right?
The way the town finds out about Ivy’s pregnancy.
Instead of throwing out the test at her first opportunity, Ivy decides instead to put this bulky, used pregnancy test – with pee on it – inside a paperback copy of Tess of the D’Urbervilles that she’s reading for English.
She even talks about how gross the test is with pee on it before she puts it in the book.
Is there no trash bag, grocery sack, old t-shirt, nothing in Ivy’s room that would be a better place to put it?
Then – of COURSE – she “forgets” to throw out the test, even though it’s at least 2 days later and her mom already knows about the pregnancy anyway. She takes her book out of her backpack at school (not noticing there is a bulky pregnancy test sticking out of it?) and WHOOPS! Right onto the floor of her English class.
All the abortion stories along the trip.
Apparently every woman in Ivy’s life has an abortion story. Her friend’s sister. A girl from school. Another girl from school. Her mother. Her mother’s friend. Her mother’s other friend. Her grandmother. Even Lorenzo’s dad chases them from Texas to Idaho to tell them his own abortion story. Good gravy.
Lorenzo getting sued.
I know the new Texas laws (TX-SB-8) allow anyone to sue someone for “assisting” an abortion in Texas. But running off to Oregon isn’t going to prevent Lorenzo from being sued. The story’s conclusion implies that Lorenzo is now safe because he left Texas, but that is not correct. He could still be sued, and if he is, he will still have to deal with the Texas civil court system.
If he were sued, it would be a civil lawsuit. The maximum amount that could possibly be awarded is $10,000, plus court costs (source), and that’s only IF the plaintiff is successful.
I searched for two hours this morning trying to find any instance of a successful lawsuit citing Texas SB 8. I found nothing but filings of lawsuits and stories of lawsuits being dismissed. No successful plaintiffs that I could find.
No, $10,000 is not a small amount, but let’s keep some perspective here. This would be a civil lawsuit, which means Lorenzo cannot go to jail for helping Ivy. There is no need (other than added drama) for him to rush off to Oregon like a fugitive.
So yeah, I didn’t care for this book. What I really hate seeing is how many issue-driven YA books get starred reviews and award nominations not for their writing, but for the hot-button topic they represent.
DIVERSITY
Most characters are white, including Ivy.
LIBRARIANS WILL WANT TO KNOW
Would adults like this book? Clearly, I am alone in my dislike for this book. Yes, I think adults will like it.
Would I buy this for my high school library? Not sure–I guess I would if it were a Printz award winner or honor. There are better books about this topic though, so I’d be unlikely to recommend this one over Girls on the Verge or Girls Like Us.
Would I buy this for my middle school library? No – it’s too mature.
Would I buy this for my elementary school library? No – definitely not an elementary book.
MATURE CONTENT
Language: not gratuitous, but there is profanity (including F-bombs and overuse of the term “shit car”)
Sexuality: sexual intercourse with consent, a weird sexual assault without penetration
Violence: sexual assault, Ivy’s boss touches her shoulders, arms, hands frequently (unwanted, but he has power over Ivy as her boss, so she says nothing)
Drugs/Alcohol: none that I remember
BOOKS ABOUT ABORTION THAT ARE BETTER THAN PLAN A
- Girls on the Verge by Sharon Biggs Waller
- Jane Against the World: Roe v. Wade and the Fight for Reproductive Rights by Karen Blumenthal
- Girls Like Us by Randi Pink