Hey Reader,

That’s the line I keep coming back to. I didn’t invent this. I just followed the logic.

We’re only one week into the A Ward of the State read-along, and already the messages you’ve sent have been powerful. Some said they had to put the book down. Others said it felt too real. A few just sat with it quietly, then wrote to tell me what lingered.

Thank you for reading this story with open hearts. And open eyes.

If you haven’t seen it yet, I wrote about the real-world laws that helped shape the world of A Ward of the State.

This isn’t a story that came from nowhere. The legal scaffolding is already here. I didn’t have to stretch that far. I just looked at what’s already on the books and imagined what might happen if nothing changed.

In the article, I unpack laws and precedents like:

• Wisconsin’s Act 292
• Fetal personhood rulings
• Surveillance justified as child protection
• Court systems that place unborn rights over lihttps://mewright.substack.com/p/real-laws-that-inspired-a-ward-ofved ones

These aren’t hypotheticals. They’re real. They’re active. And they’ve already shaped lives.

This week: Chapters 6–10

This week, Allison starts to understand how the system works. More importantly, she starts to think about how to move inside it. Not quietly. Strategically.

One reader wrote, “Her silence isn’t fear anymore. It’s calculation.” Another said, “There’s no clear villain here. The villain is the way things are.”

That’s exactly it. The system doesn’t need a face to be dangerous. It just needs compliance. Or distraction. Or exhaustion.

Share your thoughts!

• Comment on the Substack post
• Tag me @m.e.wright.author​
• Or reply to this email directly

Thank you for sitting with the discomfort. For asking the hard questions. For reading with care.

Keep reading. Keep noticing. Keep asking questions.

​

M.E. Wright

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