Tag Archives: Mason Deaver

Happy Trans Day of Visibility 2026!

Today is Trans Day of Visibility, and we’re celebrating as we do by highlighting a whole bunch of wonderful trans books! For even more recs, check out previous years’ posts.

Children’s Fiction

Sebastian Metzger Solves a Sticky Situation by Kyle Lukoff and Kat Fajardo

This is the 11th book in the The Kids in Mrs. Z’s Class series

Meet the kids in Mrs. Z’s wacky and wonderful third grade class! Sebastian Metzger is overjoyed when he checks out a brand-new book on octopodes from the school library, but everything goes awry when the book gets ruined.

Sebastian Metzger loves learning new things, especially about animals. He’s actually been experiencing many new things recently: third grade marks his first year living as a boy. Some things don’t change, though. His imaginary friend, Jimothy the chipmunk, is always by his side!

When Sebastian spots a new book in the school library on octopodes, he just knows he has to check it out. The only problem is: this book is so new, the librarian hasn’t even prepared it to be checked out! Sebastian promises to take great care of it, and the librarian makes an exception.

But when his little sister accidentally ruins the book, Sebastian is devastated. Will Sebastian find a way to save the library book and redeem himself?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N

Continue reading Happy Trans Day of Visibility 2026!

New Releases: August 2025

Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire by Don Martin

Verity Vox is a witch-in-training who has never met a problem her spells can’t solve. But when a cryptic plea for help sends her to the forgotten coal mining town of Foxfire, she soon learns even magic has its limits.

Verity discovers a curse was laid years ago by a traveling magician who vanished into the ancient Appalachian hills to seek greater power. Crops won’t grow. Bellies go hungry. Even treasured possessions fall apart. What’s worse, people have gone missing amidst rumors that they’ve sought out the magician who is lying in wait for those foolish or desperate enough to strike a deal with him.

The witch must break the curse, find a missing girl, and solve the mystery of what’s really under the mountain before the town falls forever into the clutches of the monster lurking in the hills.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading New Releases: August 2025

Happy Trans Day of Visibility 2025!

Children’s

Just Like Queen Esther by Ari Moffic and Kerry Olitzky (text) and Rena Yehuda Newman (illustration)

Atara loves to wear her crown – to the library, to the dentist, even to her swim lessons. It gives her confidence, and shows the world that she is a girl, not a boy, like everyone thought at first. But when Atara reads the story of Queen Esther, on the Jewish holiday of Purim – she realises that you don’t need a costume to express who you really are…

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading Happy Trans Day of Visibility 2025!

March 2024 Deal Announcements

Adult Fiction

Rosiee Thor and Kat Hillis‘s THE DEAD & BREAKFAST, a cozy mystery about two vampires who open a small town B&B and must prove their innocence when the local mayor shows up dead in their garden with something that looks suspiciously like puncture marks on his neck, to Michelle Vega at Berkley, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, by Saba Sulaiman at Talcott Notch Literary Services for Thor and Carrie Pestritto at Laura Dail Literary Agency for Hillis (world).

Continue reading March 2024 Deal Announcements

Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Young Adult Fiction: January-June 2024

Just Happy to Be Here by Naomi Kanakia (January 2nd)

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?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Young Adult Fiction: January-June 2024

Fave Five: Fiction with Trans M/NB Pairings

A Hundred Vicious Turns by Lee Paige O’Brien (YA Fantasy)

The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver (YA Romance)

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee (YA Romance)

Long Macchiatos and Monsters by Alison Evans (Contemporary Romance)

Documenting Light by EE Ottoman (Contemporary Romance)

Fave Five: Queer YAs About Grieving the Death of a Sibling

Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman

The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver

The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle 

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala 

The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante 

Fave Five: YA Audiobooks with Non-Binary MCs

All links are Amazon or Libro.fm affiliate.

Man o’ War by Cory McCarthy, narrated by E.R. Fightmaster

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver, narrated by MW Cartozio Wilson

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller, narrated by Deryn Edwards

Lakelore by Anna-Marie McLemore, narrated by Vico Ortiz and Avi Roque

The One True Me and You by Remi K. England, narrated by Vico Ortiz and Laura Knight Keating

New Releases: August 2022

Riley Reynolds Crushes Costume Day by Jay Albee (1st)

Note: This is the first book in a new series that has four books releasing on this date.

60403195It’s book week at school, and nonbinary fourth grader Riley and their best friends craft hard for the Dress Like Your Favorite Character Day. Colorful fabric! Paint! Glitter! They are ready to make the biggest and best group costume ever! But most of the other kids are having trouble coming up with costumes. Riley is ready to use their creativity and vision to help as many kids as possible so dress-up day will be a big success!

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | IndieBound

Continue reading New Releases: August 2022

Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Young Adult Fiction: July-December 2022

This post is sponsored by me and Home Field Advantage, available now in hardcover and ebook from Wednesday books and audio (narrated by Natalie Naudus and Lori Prince) by OrangeSky Audio!


Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N | IndieBound | Book Depository

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The Comedienne’s Guide to Pride by Hayli Thomson (July 19th)

58724672Taylor Parker has always been a funny girl―but when she is accepted as a finalist for a diverse writers’ internship at Saturday Night Live, it turns her life upside down. If she wants a shot at winning in a little more than a month, Taylor will have to come out about both of her secrets: She wants to be a comedian . . . and she’s a lesbian.

With a mom who gave up a career in comedy to raise her, and a comedian dad who left for a younger woman, working in comedy is a sore subject in Taylor’s house. To keep her secret under wraps, she sneaks out to do improv and hides her sketches under the bed, and to distract from her anxiety about the competition, Taylor frequents Salem’s Museum of Witchcraft to pine for Abigail Williams from the back row.

It’s at the Museum of Witchcraft where Taylor falls deeper in love with the girl who plays Abigail Williams―Charlotte Grey, an out and proud lesbian at Nathaniel Hawthorne High. Charlotte radiates so much confidence in her acting and queerness that Taylor can’t resist her. So when Charlotte reaches out for help on a school project, Taylor readily agrees. As they spend more time together, Taylor sees what living her truth and pursuing her dreams could bring her, but Charlotte can’t understand why someone as funny as Taylor wouldn’t go all out to make the most of her opportunities. To live up to her own comedy dreams and become the person she wants to be, Taylor will have to find the confidence to tell everyone exactly who she is and what she wants.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | IndieBound

Continue reading Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Young Adult Fiction: July-December 2022