Kanakia is the queen of blunt, honest writing, and perhaps nowhere is that more evident than in her first novel starring a trans girl, Just Happy to Be Here, which released on January 2nd from HarperTeen and stars Tara, who grapples with all sorts of issues at her fancy school. (Spoiler: one is a crush, and it is adorable.) I happen to have blurbed this one officially, so I’ll just share that here: “Kanakia’s razor-sharp candor, insight, and nuance make her one of YA’s most fascinating and relevant authors. Just Happy to Be Here is an absolute and necessary game-changer.”
Tara just wants to be treated like any other girl at Ainsley Academy.
That is, judged on her merits—not on her transness. But there’s no road map for being the first trans girl at an all-girls school. And when she tries to join the Sibyls, an old-fashioned Ainsley sisterhood complete with code names and special privileges, she’s thrust into the center of a larger argument about what girlhood means and whether the club should exist at all.
Being the figurehead of a movement isn’t something Tara’s interested in. She’d rather read old speeches and hang out with the Sibyls who are on her side—especially Felicity, a new friend she thinks could turn into something more. Then the club’s sponsor, a famous alumna, attacks her in the media and turns the selection process into a spectacle.
Tara’s always found comfort in the power of other peoples’ words. But when it comes time to fight for herself, will she be able to find her own voice?
