Member Review
Review by
Tara H, Media/Journalist
A fair and authentic exploration of abortion and politics through the eyes of a teen boy
The short version: I highly recommend this novel, which accurately depicts Wendy Davis’s historic filibuster and authentically explores a teen boy’s attempt to figure out who he is, what he believes, why he should care about issues in state and national politics, and what his role in those politics is. The characters (except the legislators and other political officeholders) are fictional, but they represent real people we all know without becoming stock or stereotypical. The book also offers an easy entry point for anyone—especially young people—to understand the abortion debate and “how the sausage is made” in politics without feeling overwhelmed or intimidated, as the experience often feels in real life.
The longer version: When I first came across this book, I was intrigued but cautious — a YA novel whose setting centers around Wendy Davis’s historic filibuster of a highly restrictive Texas abortion law? With a male teen as the main character? I was curious how the author would handle the abortion debate, how he’d make the legislative process lively for a young audience, and whether he’d get the details of Austin right. (A HUGE pet peeve of mine is to read books set in Austin where it becomes very clear that they’ve either never been to Austin or have only passed through briefly.) I also worried whether this book would demonize Texas; too many people outside Texas don’t really understand the state or its people and make broad generalizations or assumptions based on who controls our state politics without regard to what the rest of us think about that.
I needn’t have worried about the author knowing Austin well. Within a few pages, it was apparent this author REALLY knew Austin, especially when he had the main character working at a Double Dave’s. I quickly became nostalgic as I read familiar names and details about Austin—street names, landmarks, quirky things that only a true Austinite would recognize. It was also clear this author REALLY knew the Texas lege and the precise details of the events that happened that day, and that this book was not out to demonize either those who supported or opposed the Texas bill, much less Texans more broadly. And all of this is because — as I discovered when I read the author’s note after finishing the book — the author (whose name I barely noticed when I chose to read the book) is the Dan Solomon who has written for Texas Monthly and the Austin Chronicle. In fact, he covered Wendy’s filibuster for the Chronicle.
So then what about the actual substance of the book? The plot, the characters, the pacing… it is just as deftly handled as Solomon’s reporting. The main character, Alex, is fully realized and wholly believable, as are all the supporting characters. There are no caricatures or foils here, even among some of the Texas legislators who probably deserve to be caricatured. Making the main character a teenage male was a brilliant move: it allowed him to enter the abortion debate and that day’s spectacle with complete, genuine ignorance, without preconceived ideas and with enough connection to people on both sides of the debate that he really could have gone either way in what he ultimately decided he thought about the filibuster and the issue. The two female classmates Alex meets at the capitol, one on each side of the debate, are given an equally fair shake in terms of how they’re presented and why they believe what they do.
I was also impressed with how Solomon developed the character’s backstory and how it undergirded the main character’s experience at the capitol. His soul-searching and attempt to better understand who he is and what he believes feels authentic. It’s never forced, and it grows organically from his backstory and what he observes and experiences at the capitol.
I won’t deny that I was delighted when, after finishing the book, I realized who had written it — though I didn’t know the author personally, I knew of him and he of me, and we have mutual contacts. But I had already decided I loved the book before I got to the author’s note. It was also fun to relive the filibuster that I remember watching so closely on my computer alongside hundreds of thousands of others across the world that night.
I remembered some of the very tweets referenced in the book, I remember being glued to Twitter when not watching the proceedings, I remember the specific events that occurred on the floor, I remember all the parliamentary inquiries and having never before been so riveted by bureaucratic minutiae (and recognizing that and laughing about it), and oh boy did I remember Sen. Van de Putte and her words… I was holding my breath as I read the pages leading up to them and almost cheered all over again when I read them on the page. Solomon did a great job of translating the suspense of that night into the book.
What I couldn’t remember — since I wasn’t there in person — was what was happening in the rotunda and basement and elevators and gallery and so on, and I appreciated finally being privy to that here. I love that Solomon has taken that day and night and created a novel that invites other youth to get involved in political issues, revealing to them why those issues are so important and why their voices are needed. Finally, the victory in the book, coming especially at this point in time, post-Dobbs, is a reminder of what we can accomplish and what we have to keep fighting for, even knowing what happened later. If for that fact alone, this book is important right now.
This review is based on reading a complimentary advance reader copy of this book from NetGalley.
The short version: I highly recommend this novel, which accurately depicts Wendy Davis’s historic filibuster and authentically explores a teen boy’s attempt to figure out who he is, what he believes, why he should care about issues in state and national politics, and what his role in those politics is. The characters (except the legislators and other political officeholders) are fictional, but they represent real people we all know without becoming stock or stereotypical. The book also offers an easy entry point for anyone—especially young people—to understand the abortion debate and “how the sausage is made” in politics without feeling overwhelmed or intimidated, as the experience often feels in real life.
The longer version: When I first came across this book, I was intrigued but cautious — a YA novel whose setting centers around Wendy Davis’s historic filibuster of a highly restrictive Texas abortion law? With a male teen as the main character? I was curious how the author would handle the abortion debate, how he’d make the legislative process lively for a young audience, and whether he’d get the details of Austin right. (A HUGE pet peeve of mine is to read books set in Austin where it becomes very clear that they’ve either never been to Austin or have only passed through briefly.) I also worried whether this book would demonize Texas; too many people outside Texas don’t really understand the state or its people and make broad generalizations or assumptions based on who controls our state politics without regard to what the rest of us think about that.
I needn’t have worried about the author knowing Austin well. Within a few pages, it was apparent this author REALLY knew Austin, especially when he had the main character working at a Double Dave’s. I quickly became nostalgic as I read familiar names and details about Austin—street names, landmarks, quirky things that only a true Austinite would recognize. It was also clear this author REALLY knew the Texas lege and the precise details of the events that happened that day, and that this book was not out to demonize either those who supported or opposed the Texas bill, much less Texans more broadly. And all of this is because — as I discovered when I read the author’s note after finishing the book — the author (whose name I barely noticed when I chose to read the book) is the Dan Solomon who has written for Texas Monthly and the Austin Chronicle. In fact, he covered Wendy’s filibuster for the Chronicle.
So then what about the actual substance of the book? The plot, the characters, the pacing… it is just as deftly handled as Solomon’s reporting. The main character, Alex, is fully realized and wholly believable, as are all the supporting characters. There are no caricatures or foils here, even among some of the Texas legislators who probably deserve to be caricatured. Making the main character a teenage male was a brilliant move: it allowed him to enter the abortion debate and that day’s spectacle with complete, genuine ignorance, without preconceived ideas and with enough connection to people on both sides of the debate that he really could have gone either way in what he ultimately decided he thought about the filibuster and the issue. The two female classmates Alex meets at the capitol, one on each side of the debate, are given an equally fair shake in terms of how they’re presented and why they believe what they do.
I was also impressed with how Solomon developed the character’s backstory and how it undergirded the main character’s experience at the capitol. His soul-searching and attempt to better understand who he is and what he believes feels authentic. It’s never forced, and it grows organically from his backstory and what he observes and experiences at the capitol.
I won’t deny that I was delighted when, after finishing the book, I realized who had written it — though I didn’t know the author personally, I knew of him and he of me, and we have mutual contacts. But I had already decided I loved the book before I got to the author’s note. It was also fun to relive the filibuster that I remember watching so closely on my computer alongside hundreds of thousands of others across the world that night.
I remembered some of the very tweets referenced in the book, I remember being glued to Twitter when not watching the proceedings, I remember the specific events that occurred on the floor, I remember all the parliamentary inquiries and having never before been so riveted by bureaucratic minutiae (and recognizing that and laughing about it), and oh boy did I remember Sen. Van de Putte and her words… I was holding my breath as I read the pages leading up to them and almost cheered all over again when I read them on the page. Solomon did a great job of translating the suspense of that night into the book.
What I couldn’t remember — since I wasn’t there in person — was what was happening in the rotunda and basement and elevators and gallery and so on, and I appreciated finally being privy to that here. I love that Solomon has taken that day and night and created a novel that invites other youth to get involved in political issues, revealing to them why those issues are so important and why their voices are needed. Finally, the victory in the book, coming especially at this point in time, post-Dobbs, is a reminder of what we can accomplish and what we have to keep fighting for, even knowing what happened later. If for that fact alone, this book is important right now.
This review is based on reading a complimentary advance reader copy of this book from NetGalley.
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