The Civil War of Amos Abernathy

In an earnest debut that explores representation in the past and present, a gay 13-year-old history fan in Illinois works to center LGBTQ voices while competing to design a historical exhibit. Long a junior volunteer at the living history park that his mother runs, white Amos Abernathy feels like “the nineteenth century is in my blood,” though he acknowledges that “life back then wasn’t easy.” Amos is particularly knowledgeable about Abraham Lincoln, and when he meets Ben Oglevie, a white homeschooled boy from a religious family, he’s drawn in by Ben’s grasp of Lincoln facts. A crush follows, and then ongoing “complete and utter silence” from closeted Ben. Meanwhile, as the park grapples with matters of historical inclusion and erasure—resulting in Amos learning about Union soldier and trans man Albert D.J. Cashier—Amos’s best friend, Chloe Thompson, works to become the park’s first Black female blacksmith. Alternating between Amos’s candid 2021 letters to Albert and a first-person accounting of 2022 events, Leali’s slow-moving narrative proves a sometimes didactically rendered but still engaging contribution to the canon of historically focused LGBTQ novels. An author’s note details the story’s beginnings. Ages 8–12. Agent: Sarah Crowe, Pippin Properties. (June)