All Kinds of Other

Two boys enter their sophomore year of high school hoping to start fresh in Sie’s (Still Life Las Vegas) sharply written YA debut. Basketball player Jules Westman, who is white, cisgender, and Jewish, has recently come out as gay, while Indian American film buff Jack Davies is concealing his trans identity during a temporary move from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles. The two are drawn to each other, but just as their relationship starts to blossom, Jack is outed against his will and must navigate being in the spotlight. Jules, meanwhile, struggles with his feelings for Jack—which, he begins to realize, haven’t changed with the revelation. Alternating between the boys’ points of view, Sie creates a memorable character in Jack, whose narration includes stream-of-consciousness blog posts. Though lovely, tender moments of connection warm the heart, the relentless hostility Jack faces (including racism, transphobic bullying, misgendering, invasive questions, and a violent transmisogynistic attack on his best friend) at times overwhelm the sweetness, making this a difficult, potentially triggering read. Readers who perservere, though, will find a gripping story in Jack’s resilience and Jules’s loyalty. Ages 14–up. [em]Agent: Christopher Schelling, Selectric Artists Literary. (May) [/em]