Love and Haight

As New Year 1972 approaches, pregnant Chloe and her longtime best friend MJ drive from Phoenix to San Francisco, where abortion is legal. But even in the counterculture haven, 17-year-old Chloe must first complete several steps, including finding a psychiatrist who will declare that her pregnancy is a risk to her sanity. There are other complications as well, including a run-in with antiabortion protestors; growing tension with Catholic MJ, who believes that Chloe’s “little being.... has a soul”; and Chloe’s unexpected rekindled flirtation with MJ’s brother. Carlton (Lobsterland) blends educational elements about abortion services and attitudes in the early 1970s into her story, including descriptions of Chloe’s meetings with various medical professionals, while still making this the personal story of a girl who worries both that she will regret her choice or that “For the rest of my life, I will be the girl who had an abortion.” Readers will appreciate the different loved ones in Chloe’s life who struggle to support her in a world that, as her hippie aunt Kiki says, “shimmers in shades of gray.” Ages 14–up. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Mar.)