In 'The Fight for Midnight,' a teen boy confronts the abortion debate

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/21/ [login to see] /dan-solomon-book-the-fight-for-midnight-ya-young-adult-abortion-debate
Alex Collins is preparing for a lousy summer. After getting into some trouble, the 15-year-old has lost most of his friends and is doing community service.

Then, he gets a call from a girl he's had a crush on since fourth grade. Cassie Ramirez is at the Texas State Capitol where then-state-lawmaker Wendy Davis is about to filibuster a bill that would restrict access to abortion across the state. Cassie is against abortion rights and she wants Alex to come support her.

Alex is thrilled, except that he's only vaguely aware of what's going on at the Capitol and never really thought much about abortion. "I'm a guy, so why would I?"

So begins Dan Solomon's new YA novel The Fight for Midnight.

Solomon covered Wendy Davis' real-life filibuster for The Austin Chronicle. "It was wild. I'd never seen anything like it," he remembers.

People of all ages on both sides of the abortion debate crowded the Texas State Capitol that day. Pro-choice activists wore orange. They far outnumbered those against abortion rights, who wore blue.