Out of Blue Comes Green

January 22, 2024
Corey follows a transgender high schooler’s coming-out experience in this hopeful debut. Senior student Kay Kinkade is having a tumultuous gender transition: he suspects that his therapist is purposefully derailing his sessions, his mother insists he dress more feminine, his longtime crush offers makeup advice he doesn’t want, and his classmates constantly deadname him, especially popular jock JT. But there are some bright spots: his band, Blue, is in the running to play for prom, and, upon their introduction, new student Madi “thinks I’m a boy. Honestly thinks I’m a boy.” He’s also grieving his dog’s recent death and, in a visit to a shelter, is mistaken for a new hire named Nathan and starts working shifts caring for the animals. Juggling school-required theater dates with Madi, an unusual confession from JT, band rehearsals, and working at the shelter tests Kay’s limits and leads to a series of decisions with painful fallout. Kay’s occasional shortsightedness and presumption of antagonism from around every corner can be a bit wearisome, but Corey clearly presents Kay’s turmoil navigating transition alongside familiar adolescent woes surrounding crushes and the future. Most characters read as white; bandmate Libby is Black. Ages 14–up. Agent: Tina P. Schwartz, Purcell Agency.

February 15, 2024
A young trans man looks for love and acceptance. The protagonist, who's deadnamed Kayla and often goes by Kay or Nate, doesn't have it easy. He wants to be more out and proud at his high school, but after cutting his hair and playing frontman in his band, Blue, he becomes the target of unrelenting bullying from both family and peers. He develops an all-consuming crush on classmate Christine after she mistakes him for a cis boy, and if that's not bad enough, his beloved dog, Sasha, recently died. The high school senior, who reads white, struggles constantly with feeling masculine enough, consciously trying to embody the worst of patriarchal gender roles while simultaneously feeling uncomfortable with them. In a plot crowded with coincidences, he manages to lie his way into a part-time job at an animal shelter, starts dating a new girl with a rainbow "love is love is love is love" button on her backpack, and machinates to try to get his band the spot playing at prom. Despite a heavy reliance on texting and social media, this feels like a story from an earlier time: The teen's Minneapolis-area high school seems to not have anything resembling a gay-straight alliance or queer community, his knowledge about transmasculine identities wavers inconsistently, and the repetition of toxic male stereotypes feels out of place. The struggles and successes in this novel will appeal to the angstiest of queer teens. (Fiction. 14-18)

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March 15, 2024
Grades 10-12 Kinkade's not having the easiest time coming out as transgender: his mother pressures him to be more feminine, and homophobic and transphobic bullies at school cause him to attempt self-harm. But when he goes to the local animal clinic to potentially adopt a new dog, he's mistaken for their new employee, Nate, and never corrects them. At school, the only students who relate to him as a boy are Libby (his best friend and bandmate), Danny (his strength-training partner), and the cute new girl, Madi. Can he keep Madi from hearing the nasty comments from classmates and his parents' friends long enough to get her to give him a chance? Corey's debut novel is a rough and brutal look at the consequences that families and schools that resist gender aff irmation can have on individuals and what it really means to be a man. Most characters are described as white, and don't worry--the dog doesn't die.

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June 7, 2024

Gr 9 Up-Seventeen-year-old high school senior and trans boy Kinkade longs to be accepted. He is the frontman of his band, Blue, and when he cuts his hair and performs in front of his classmates, the bullying starts. In addition, he is dealing with his crush on his classmate Christine, the recent death of his beloved dog Sasha, and his mother's refusal to accept him. He struggles with being masculine "enough" and finding a place in his high school where classmates and teachers support trans youth. Once he finds a job at an area animal shelter, meets a new girl who shows a romantic interest in him, and has hope his band will play prom, his life starts to turn around. With so much going on in Kinkade's life, it feels like the novel doesn't fully explore any of the storylines. In addition, the lack of any LGBTQIA+ programming at an urban school feels more realistic for a narrative set in the 1990s than in 2024. VERDICT Queer teens and allies will appreciate a book with a trans protagonist and enjoy the read, even with the major plot holes.-Rebekah J. Buchanan

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