"*keysmashes about all the gender feels this book made me have*
*keysmashes about how perfectly it describes anxiety and suicidal ideation*
[I realize this is a weird thing to get excited about, but it’s rare to find depictions of anxiety (especially as it relates to dysphoria) that feel so real, and it’s important to have characters that feel what you feel.]
*keysmashes about how this book is so good that I can’t think of a more eloquent way to recommend it*"
Publisher Balzer + Bray
Publication Date 2016-02-02
Section Young Adult / All Staff Suggestions / Fiction Suggestions
Format Hardcover
ISBN 9780062382863
Starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist * YALSA Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers * ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults List * 2017 Rainbow List
A sharply honest and moving debut perfect for fans of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Ask the Passengers.
Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock. Snarky. Rebellious. And gender fluid. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl. But Riley isn't exactly out yet. And between starting a new school and having a congressman father running for reelection in über-conservative Orange County, the pressure—media and otherwise—is building up in Riley's life.
On the advice of a therapist, Riley starts an anonymous blog to vent those pent-up feelings and tell the truth of what it's really like to be a gender fluid teenager. But just as Riley's starting to settle in at school—even developing feelings for a mysterious outcast—the blog goes viral, and an unnamed commenter discovers Riley's real identity, threatening exposure. And Riley must make a choice: walk away from what the blog has created—a lifeline, new friends, a cause to believe in—or stand up, come out, and risk everything.
From debut author Jeff Garvin comes a powerful and uplifting portrait of a modern teen struggling with high school, relationships, and what it means to be human.
