Perfect for fans of Mason Deaver and Becky Albertalli, this tender, raucous novel follows a rule-following, perfectionist teen who starts an underground GSA club at...

Perfect for fans of Mason Deaver and Becky Albertalli, this tender, raucous novel follows a rule-following, perfectionist teen who starts an underground GSA club at her conservative Catholic high school, from the acclaimed author of Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens.

Cassie Perera is a star student in St. Luke's junior class. But the new school year brings an unwelcome surprise--the return to St. Luke's of Cassie's former friend, Ben, who left a few years ago after a homophobic bullying incident Cassie knows she didn't do enough to prevent.

Still harboring guilt from her inaction, Cassie decides, in her usual, overzealous way, to team up with the neighboring public school to found an underground Gender and Sexuality Alliance--as a complicated strategy for making things up to Ben. Secretly, Cassie is also tempted by the possibility of opening up about her own sexuality for the first time.

As Cassie's new friends urge her out of her comfort zone, she unlocks a kind of joy and freedom she's never felt before--even as she struggles to balance these experiences with her typical tightrope of being the perfect daughter, student, and Catholic.

Cassie's perfectly curated life unravels into turmoil, but can she embrace the mess enough to piece together something new?

Author: Tanya Boteju
Publisher: Quill Tree Books
Published: 04/01/2025
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.50w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9780063358492
Audience: Young Adult


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 01/27/2025
Kirkus Reviews 02/15/2025
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 04/01/2025
School Library Journal 04/01/2025 pg. 126