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Who is Sonia in Unwind by Neal Shusterman?

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Sonia is a character in Neal Shusterman's Unwind who helps "unwinds" escape in a dystopian society where teens can be retroactively "aborted." She operates an antique store that doubles as a safe house, providing shelter and supplies for runaway teens like Connor, Risa, and Lev. Sonia is a tough yet compassionate figure who risks her life to aid these youths, reflecting positive values in a society that has outlawed abortion and permits unwinding.

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Sonia is one of the characters in Unwind who provides hope for the future survival of the social misfits. Not only does she help Unwinds escape, but she is also presented as an old woman who has been engaged in this subversive work for some time. She gives him and Rita practical, if slightly off course, advice, as she believes the baby they are carrying is theirs: to get pregnant again, as the authorities will not unwind pregnant women. She is a tough-talking, but tender-hearted survivor, who risks her life to help younger people escape as part of the network with Hannah, the teacher.

Sonia is generally associated with the positive values that the society formerly had in that she operates an antiques shop, which seems to Connor to have things from all phases of American history. She also harks back to a specific time in US history, prohibition, as the secret hideaway in the basement of her shop had been used to hide illegal liquor. Now she keeps it stocked with food and supplies for the escapees who hide there while waiting for transport in the ice cream truck.

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In the novel Unwind, which takes places in a dystopian, post Second Civil War America, we learn that recent legislation has just been passed that allows parents to "retroactively 'abort' a child" between the ages of 13 and 18 for seemingly minor infractions. The name of the legislation responsible for this law is the Bill of Life. Although this seems an odd moniker, given the nature of this new and brutal law, we learn that this same bill has also simultaneously just outlawed abortion. Sonia is the owner of an antique store who also runs a sort of safe house for "unwinds." The three runaway teens we meet at the beginning of the story (Connor, Risa, and Lev) first encounter Sonia at her home, the safe house. Sonia allows them to stay in her cellar for a week until she can secure transportation to the next safe house for unwinds.

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