Where the Girls Were by Kate Schatz Publishes 3/3/26

 I wish that everyone who had an opinion about women's bodies and what they can do with them would take the time to read a book like this.  Reading is so powerful because you can truly have empathy and understanding of a situation that you might never be in yourself.  I don't know how anyone could read this story and not feel for Baker and all that she went through. 

Baker has everything going for her.  She is the valedictorian of her 1968 class and has big dreams of becoming a writer and living in Paris after she attends Stanford University.  Everything is going her way until she goes out to a concert with her cousin and falls in love.  Like so many girls during this time, Baker has very little understanding of her own body and received no education about how to prevent pregnancies.  Baker becomes pregnant and has very few options of what she can do.  Being an unwed mother during this time is pure scandal and will completely destroy her future.  Baker 's mother decides her only option is to go away to a home for unwed mothers so that no one will know.  Her plan is that Baker will go back to her life after the baby is born like nothing ever happened.  However things begin to change when Baker meets the other unwed mothers and her situation becomes very real. 

This novel was very well written and kept me reading the entire time as I had to know what happened to Baker and the other girls at the home. There is no way you can read this novel and not be affected by it.  I definitely recommend everyone read this book especially in the political climate that we are currently in. 

4 out of 5 stars