All Kinds of Other by James Sie (review)

Jules is starting off his sophomore year at a new and (shudder) public school, and he has to decide whether or not to come out there, since he already had to leave his private school after his teammates found out he was gay. His plans of flying under the gaydar go awry when he meets fellow new kid Jack. Of course, Jack has secrets of his own: namely that he's trans and he recently lost his best friend, Evie, by not standing up for her against transphobic bullies and her South Asian parents. The boys' budding friendship—and mutual crush—takes a sharp dive when someone sends an old YouTube video of Jack and Evie talking about their transitions to the entire school. Sie's YA debut pairs a will-they-won't-they romance with heavy internal struggles told in alternating first-person narratives, with some of Jack's YouTube transcripts and Tumblr ramblings peppered in. While Jules slowly examines what his life will be like once he comes out—and how a relationship with a trans boy may affect it—Jack battles body dysmorphia, guilt about betraying his first and best ally, and horrifying near-daily microaggressions. An eleventh hour, mostly happy ending will elicit sighs and hope for the boys' future, but the path to this dénouement tips from realistically challenging to relentlessly grim, enervating rather than empowering trans readers. Such readers would be better served with recent #ownvoices offerings such as Stoeve's Between Perfect and Real (BCCB 4/21) or Borinsky's Sasha Masha (BCCB 11/20).