All the Things We Don’t Talk About

Feltman (Willa & Hesper) crafts a nuanced portrait of a nonbinary teen’s coming-of-age amid intense family dynamics. Growing up just north of New York City, 17-year-old Morgan is trying to navigate gender identity and their first romance without much of a road map. Morgan’s father, Julian, is neurodivergent, and their mother, Zoe, has been largely absent from their life after fleeing to Europe on their first birthday. Then, following a breakup with her longtime partner, Brigid, Zoe spectacularly crashes back onto the scene, trailing chaos in her wake and promising glamour and adventure, but only succeeding in undermining Morgan’s fragile sense of trust. Julian and Morgan’s relationship, meanwhile, is portrayed thoughtfully and, at times, poignantly, such as their work together on a 5,000-piece puzzle and their shared PB&Js. Morgan is authentically awkward in their exploration of gender expression, such as a scene in an airport (“They stood in front of the two bathroom choices and, defeated, went into the choice that meant they were invisible”). Not all of this works; a thread involving social media doxing nearly tips into unbelievability, and Zoe and Brigid’s outsize but murky wealth too frequently advances the plot. In the end, though, Feltman brings empathy and moments of grace to her characters. This is worth a look. Agent: Stephanie Delman,Trellis Literary Management. (May)