We chat with author Seema Yasmin about Unbecoming, which follows two Muslim teens in Texas fight for access to abortion while one harbors a painful secret in this funny and heartfelt near-future speculative novel, perfect for fans of Unpregnant.
Hi, Seema! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m a Brit living in Las Vegas and I’m obsessed with storytelling in all its forms! I write kids books, middle grade biographies, young adult novels, poems, non-fiction about science and I’m working on a play and a screenplay. I trained as a journalist and a medical doctor and worked as a disease detective in the government’s Epidemic Intelligence Service.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I loved writing short stories in middle school – they were full of scandal and murder, in fact! But then I was swept away by science and quite literally told I had to pick one: science or the arts (the UK is binary that way). I picked science, became a doctor, and it was only after I had qualified and was investigating epidemics at a disease detective that I realized stories, alongside medicine, could save us from ourselves.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies by Beatrix Potter
- The one that made you want to become an author: Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: My Child, The Algorithm: An alternatively intelligent book of love by Hannah Silva
Your latest novel, Unbecoming, is out July 9th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Unexpected, absurd, full of friendship.
What can readers expect?
Unexpected twists and turns; humor and absurdity in the face of horror; help from the most unlikely characters; and all the messiness that comes with friendship.
Where did the inspiration for Unbecoming come from?
Back in 2019 it seemed clear that Roe v. Wade, which gave us the constitutional right to abortion, would be overturned at some point, I just wasn’t sure when. But it almost didn’t matter; states didn’t need to ban abortion when some were making it practically impossible to get an abortion anyway. Two years earlier, I had left Texas where I was a reporter at the Dallas Morning News and had written stories about Texas being the most dangerous place in America to be pregnant. So when I was reading the news that day in 2019 I wondered what it would be like to tell the story of a 17-year-old who becomes pregnant in post-Roe America. What does her life look like? Who does she tell? What’s her immediate fear? What’s her plan? As a doctor, I imagined that if abortion was completely banned, as it is in the novel, then some doctors would spring into action and try to provide safe abortion in an underground network.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I loved that Laylah came to me as a fully formed character who was both super rigid about her future – she has the Laylah Life Plan which sets out exactly when she’ll get into college, med school, residency and fellowship with a week-by-week bullet pointed plan – but also whimsical in that she gets horny on a school trip to watch the bluebonnets bloom, and winds up pregnant. I also loved writing her grandmother’s story, but you’ll have to read Unbecoming to find out why!
Why is the topic of abortion something that young adult readers should be reading about?
It’s real. Upwards of 600,000 teens become pregnant in the U.S. each year. By some estimates, 3 in 10 will become pregnant before the age of 20. Given how common it is, there should be more stories about teen pregnancy and abortion. Laylah’s story also shows that abortion care is health care and how people are forced into ridiculous situations when something as basic as abortion care is banned.
What do you hope your readers take away from Unbecoming?
While Laylah becomes pregnant and you follow her over the course of a week as she tries to unbecome pregnant, Unbecoming is really a story about friendship, faith and family. Laylah doesn’t want anyone to know she’s messed up; she’s scared to even tell her best friend. But what she learns during this journey is the relief of turning up as your whole, messy, authentic self to your friends and family, and how those close to us can love us because of, not in spite of, our flaws.
What’s next for you?
I’m writing a middle grade series for Simon and Schuster called Muslim Mavericks and my second YA novel which is a spooky and discombobulating read about disembodied voices…
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
I loved Hot Boy Summer by Joe Jimenez! There’s so much fun stuff on the horizon. I can’t wait to read Farrah Noorzad and the Ring of Fate by Deeba Zargarpur and whatever Gabby Rivera (author of Juliet Takes A Breath) is cooking up next!
