Advanced Biology Summary

The woman is packing her clothes for a trip to Miami, where she will promote her new book and then on to Puerto Rico to visit her mother. The trip reminds her of her childhood in Paterson, New Jersey, in the 1960's where she attended a public school populated mostly by Jewish and white children. This school is where she had her first crush on a boy named Ira. Ira introduced her to the topic of reproduction in biology class and assaulted her Catholic beliefs in a Virgin birth, both topics that were never discussed in her home. Eventually their mothers found out about their conflicting religions and put an end to the budding romance. Even now, however, the woman sometimes thinks about Ira and wonders what could have happened if reality could have been suspended just for a little while...