These Heathens by Mia McKenzie
5 stars
272 Pages
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Random House, Random House
Release Date: June 17, 2025
Fiction (Adult), General Fiction (Adult), Historical, 1960s, Civil Rights, Abortion, LGBTQIA+
Doris Steele is 17 years old and pregnant in 1960. She lives in a small town in Georgia and wants more out of life. She asks her former teacher, Katie Lucas, if she can help. Katie plans for the two of them to travel to Atlanta and stay at a friend’s house. When they arrive, Doris notices the tension between Katie and her friend, Sylvia Bouchard. Silva arranged for a doctor to perform the abortion the following morning; however, when morning comes, there are a series of delays. This gives Doris the opportunity to attend a nonviolent conference. While there, she meets Mrs. Coretta Scott King and Dr. martin Luther King.
The story has a steady pace, the characters are well developed, and it is written in the first-person point of view. The author brought the characters to life with the insertion of real historical events. If you like historical fiction around the civil rights movement or reproductive rights, you will enjoy reading this book.
