Hey Reader,

There’s a moment in A Ward of the State when Allison has to choose.

Michelle suggests something simple but risky. If Allison wants the truth, she needs to stop waiting for someone else to tell her. That means going into her mother’s office. Breaking the rules. Looking for answers no one wanted her to find.

Allison doesn’t act right away. It feels wrong. It feels like betrayal. But eventually, she does it.

What she finds changes how she sees everything.

This isn’t a dramatic scene. It’s quiet. Private. But it’s one of the book’s turning points. A moment where silence stops feeling safe, and obedience starts to feel like complicity.

So here’s the question: If you were in Allison’s place, would you have searched the office? Or would you have left it alone?

If you have thoughts, I’d love to hear them. Just reply to this email and tell me what you would have done.

In July, we’ll be doing a full readalong of the book with weekly check-ins and deeper conversations. But today, I just want to ask one thing:

Would you keep the secret or fight the system?

—M.E. Wright

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