True to the lived experience of a protest . . . Plum's contributions to this canon are often funny, and pleasantly odd . . . As Angela points out, the judicial system may not be able to comprehend the ungovernable parts of our bodies and minds, to hear those ticking clocks inside us-but a novel can.

New York Times Book Review

Impossible to put down . . . State Champ is a post-Dobbs novel we're lucky to have.

Emma Alpern, New York Magazine's The Cut

This inventive and compelling story centers on Angela, a state running champ who has dropped out (of running, college, the BS of life more generally) and decides to protest the criminalization of abortion with a hunger strike. Strikingly composed and delivered, Plum's latest punches high above its weight.

Ms. Magazine

Revelatory and impassioned . . . Life dwindles from Angela's politicized body but not from her purpose in this sharp, incisive, and galvanizing portrait of a woman exerting her choice.

Shelf Awareness

Darkly funny, in a made-you-snort sort of way . . . a short, tight novel that goes by quickly [and offers] solidarity; a look inside the brain of a less-than-perfect woman putting her body on the line to seek justice in the face of injustice. Sure, she's technically fictional-but in times of darkness, the liberatory power of imagination is important.

Jezebel, June Book Club Pick

An acrobatic, harrowing marathon of cut-to-the-quick prose, with a narrator who's ferocious, funny, and wise. State Champ churns with tremendous urgency that would be, and will be, vital in any era. Hilary Plum is a breathtaking talent.

Henry Hoke, author of OPEN THROAT