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PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the cover of Kate Schatz’s debut novel Where the Girls WereThe author and activist was inspired to write the novel after learning of her mom’s time in a home for unwed mothers”I hope to show what can happen when we are allowed to make our own decisions, and tell our own stories,” Schatz says of the novel, which will be published in spring 2026
When author and activist Kate Schatz was in her twenties, her mother told her she had a confession to share: In the 1960s, Schatz’s mom placed her first two babies for adoption, after she was sent to a home for unwed mothers.
That story, as well as those of other women in similar circumstances, would become the basis for Schatz’s forthcoming debut novel Where the Girls Were, for which PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the cover.
Set in the summer of 1968, Where the Girls Were follows Elizabeth “Baker” Phillips, a former valedictorian bound for Stanford University. After a night out on Haight Ashbury, Baker discovers that she’s pregnant.
The cover of ‘Where the Girls Were’ by Kate Schatz.
The Dial Press
Suddenly, Baker’s world turns upside-down, especially when her family sends her to a home for unwed mothers, where she lives with other pregnant girls facing similar judgement from those around them.
Baker, however, finds a newfound sense of community amongst her fellow residents — along with her own power and voice.
Schatz, who is also the author of the books Rad American Women A-Z, as well as Do the Work: An Anti-Racist Activity Book, which she cowrote with W. Kamau Bell, notes how her first novel feels especially “dire” now, as the fight for reproductive rights continues in the United States.
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“Through the stories of my protagonists and the girls she meets in the home, I hope to show what can happen when we are allowed to make our own decisions and tell our own stories,” the author tells PEOPLE. “When we resist being silenced, and when we insist on agency and empowerment, instead of obedience and shame.”
Kate Schatz.
Lauren Pariani
Schatz also aims for the novel to pay tribute to the 1960s feminist movement and sexual revolution beyond the page.
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“My hope is that readers come away from this book inspired to speak up, tell the truth and to be curious of the stories of those around you — especially the women who came before,” the author continues.
“I hope readers feel moved to question the versions of history they think they already know, and to challenge the forces that seek to control us,” Schatz adds. “And I hope that readers consider what it might look like to take a stand in the name of all mothers, and the choice, freedom and love they deserve.”
Where the Girls Were will be published on March 3, 2026 and is now available for preorder, wherever books are sold.