(2) 4-6 Melleby and Sass bring together the middle school–aged protagonists they each created for the 2021 short-story anthology This Is Our Rainbow (co-edited by Melleby and Katherine Locke) in this novel set at a camp for LGBTQ+ youth. Melleby's Abigail (she/her/hers), all but ostracized by her friends since she admitted to a crush on one of their mothers, begs her parents to send her to the camp. Sass's Kai (e/em/eir) attends under protest: eir parents sign em up after a bullying incident. The two newbies form sometimes-bumpy relationships with each other and with the more seasoned campers in a safe but not necessarily awkwardness-free space. There's a heightened awareness (even more than in other settings) that anyone might be romantically interested in anyone else--or might not. There's also, realistically, a wide range of knowledge about and comfort with queer identities among the kids: one of them launches a campaign for a more inclusive camp name ("there's no letter in the QUILTBAG acronym for pansexual kids, plus a lot of others"), while Kai tries to remember what pansexual means. Intersectionality in the differences between campers adds another dimension, especially in the area of religion: Abigail attends Catholic school; Kai is "kind of" Jewish and tentatively learns more about Judaism from another camper. This engaging, gently affirming novel should be valuable to young readers exploring their own identities or curious about those of others.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2023

(2) 4-6 Joey, eleven, is one of a set of triplets in a blended family with two moms, and she's hardly ever thought about the sperm donor whose genes she has inherited. But her own difficulty with anger management has gotten worse lately, to the point that her behavior gets her family evicted from their apartment. They're all crammed into a motel room, except her beloved older half-brother, who disappoints the others by moving in with his dad. As the situation boils over, Joey wonders, with some inspiration from a school genetics project, if her impulses might be inherited from her biological father and seeks out information on him. Further complicating things is her crush on the female classmate (a longtime friend) who is helping with her DNA research and Joey's insecurity-fueled ineptitude at handling the friendship. Melleby (How to Become a Planet, rev. 7/21) excels at exploring aspects of queer life within a layered story. Joey's family situation is believably bumpy, for reasons both related and unrelated to its configuration (her mothers disagree about how to manage Joey's outbursts; Joey worries, unfoundedly, that her nonbiological mom could give up on her). An affecting portrayal of a preteen who has even more to figure out than most about why she is the way she is; how to handle herself; and where she fits in the world.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2022

(2) YA As the book opens, twelve-year-old Pluto, so named for her mother's space obsession, asks the Hayden Planetarium's question-and-answer hotline how to create a black hole, because she wants to "just stop. Just turn off the lights and shut her eyes and stop." Her soon-diagnosed depression and anxiety are severe enough that she stays home for the ­remainder of the school year. But by summer, she makes a list of goals in order to "be the real, full Pluto." Her process of finding where she fits, including navigating her parents' separation, is affecting, as she recalibrates her own self-expectations (attending a birthday party, for instance, is too much for now) and as a new friendship with ­gender-questioning Fallon begins to turn romantic. As always, Melleby (In the Role of Brie Hutchens..., rev. 3/20) naturally integrates her queer protagonist's discovery of her sexuality into a larger story. The love of space that Pluto shares with her mother (whose own stress level is honestly portrayed) informs her way of thinking about herself and the world; Pluto's interest in the history of the Challenger disaster is just one reason this introspective novel might appeal to fans of Erin Entrada Kelly's We Dream of Space (rev. 3/20).

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

(2) YA When the novel opens, thirteen-year-old Brie's mother almost stumbles upon Brie looking at a soap opera star's Playboy photos online. Brie distracts her mom by claiming (falsely) that she's been chosen to perform an important role at the May Crowning mass, an honor for an eighth grader in her Catholic school. Brie must then attempt to earn that honor (by winning an essay contest) and hopes that by doing so, she'll come closer to the image Mom wants for her. But Brie's own personality and interests diverge from what her family expects, from her impulsivity to her less-than-strong attachment to religion to her aspiration to attend a performing arts school next year; this last also brings up financial issues in a family where her father works as the school janitor. Her parents' first hint that Brie is questioning her sexuality--more online searching, this time for "LGBTQ soap opera scenes"--comes in the novel's first half, which leaves space for varied and evolving reactions and for acknowledgment that acceptance can take time, but shouldn't take forever. Chapter openings describing events from soap operas--the one strong interest she shares with her mom--underscore how dramatic the events feel to Brie, as well as the fact that, though she's realized something new about herself, she's still the same person.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2020

(2) 4-6 Sixth grader Fig feels obliged to downplay the effects of her father's bipolar disorder so that she and her dad can stay together. Neighbor Mark's help turns into a romantic relationship for Dad; the novel also includes another coming-out story--Fig has a crush on an older girl--but integrates these elements naturally. Details involving art and science lend specificity and keep the plot lines from feeling overly formulaic.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019