A Stonewall Honor BookAnachingly honest and frequently hilarious coming-of-age novel about an Arab American trans teen fighting to keep their head above water in a landlocked Midwestern town.Man o' wars are not jellyfish, and River McIntyre is not happy. River doesn't know why they're unhappythough perhaps it has something to do with the way they relate more to captive marine life at the local acquarium than to the people around them. That is, until they have a run in with Indigo "Indy" Waits on the annual class field trip. Face-to-face with an affirmed queer person, River leaps out of the closet and into the shark tank. Literally. What follows is a wrenching journey of self-discovery that spans years and winds through layers of coming out, transition, and top surgery, promising a free life for River with so much more than happiness: A life that's full of trans joy and true love.River is the most emotionally engaging character I've read in a long time, and this novel is a deep and comprehensive exploration of the journey transgender people trek through the confining world they're born into. Eye-opening, heartfelt, and realwith a massive payoffof true love. A.S. King,author of Dig, winner of the Michael L. Printz Award(Cover may vary.)

 

 

This book is aimed at children at US 9th grade+.

This book has been graded for interest at 14 years.

There are 336 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2023 by Dutton Books for Young Readers .