By Cynthia Hand
"Dear X, Today Melly has us writing letters to our babies. I'm not keeping you, so this felt like cruel and unusual punishment."
So begins The How and The Why, by Cynthia Hand, a well-crafted, engrossing and loving story of teen pregnancy and adoption. The book preambles with the above letter from 16-year-old "S" - who is living at a school for pregnant teens - written to her unborn child. As the story begins, the child, Cass, is turning 18, driving around with her best friend, who is taking her to a surprise birthday party. As they walk into the room where family is gathered, Cass makes an awkward remark about sex, there is momentary silence, and then laughter breaks out. And in this way, you're introduced to her good-natured family and her life.
The author has you switching between Cass's present life and the birth mom's pregnancy 18 years ago. The story moves from past to present in an easy flowing manner. What isn't so easy is that Cass's real mom is in a hospital awaiting a heart transplant, and the letters from her birth mom, which were to be available when Cass turned 18, are stuck in a bureaucratic morass.
That's the outline of the story which held me mesmerized for hours at a time. As her mom says throughout the book, "The universe unfolds as it should." And, in my opinion, this is a book that unfolds beautifully.