Tag Archives: Mountain Upside Down

New Releases: February 2025

This post is sponsored by Dana Hawkins and So Not My Type! Click on the graphic for more info!

Scrappy determination clashes with polished privilege. Let the games begin.

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A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff (4th)

Covid lockdown is over, but A’s world feels smaller than ever. Coming out as trans didn’t exactly go well, and most days, he barely leaves his bedroom, let alone the house. But the low point of A’s life isn’t online school, missing his bar mitzvah, or the fact that his parents monitor his phone like hawks—it’s the weekly Save Our Sons and Daughters meetings his parents all but drag him to.

At SOSAD, A and his friends Sal and Yarrow sit by while their parents deadname them and wring their hands over a nonexistent “transgender craze.” After all, sitting in suffocating silence has to be better than getting sent away for “advanced treatment,” never to be heard from again.

When Yarrow vanishes after a particularly confrontational meeting, A discovers that SOSAD doesn’t just feel soul-sucking…it’s run by an actual demon who feeds off the pain and misery of kids like him. And it’s not just SOSAD—the entire world is beset by demons dining on what seems like an endless buffet of pain and bigotry.

But how is one trans kid who hasn’t even chosen a name supposed to save his friend, let alone the world? And is a world that seems hellbent on rejecting him even worth saving at all?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading New Releases: February 2025

Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Middle Grade Fiction: January-June 2025

This post is sponsored by Athlete is Agender, ed. by Katherine Locke and Nicole Melleby (the team that brought you This is Our Rainbow), a nonfiction Middle Grade anthology releasing from Christy Ottaviano Books on May 13, 2025!

Athlete is agender. Athlete can mean anyone. This incredible collection revels in the achievements of strong, passionate, and determined queer athletes across every age, level, and field of sports.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon | B&N

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A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff (February 4th)

Covid lockdown is over, but A’s world feels smaller than ever. Coming out as trans didn’t exactly go well, and most days, he barely leaves his bedroom, let alone the house. But the low point of A’s life isn’t online school, missing his bar mitzvah, or the fact that his parents monitor his phone like hawks—it’s the weekly Save Our Sons and Daughters meetings his parents all but drag him to.

At SOSAD, A and his friends Sal and Yarrow sit by while their parents deadname them and wring their hands over a nonexistent “transgender craze.” After all, sitting in suffocating silence has to be better than getting sent away for “advanced treatment,” never to be heard from again.

When Yarrow vanishes after a particularly confrontational meeting, A discovers that SOSAD doesn’t just feel soul-sucking…it’s run by an actual demon who feeds off the pain and misery of kids like him. And it’s not just SOSAD—the entire world is beset by demons dining on what seems like an endless buffet of pain and bigotry.

But how is one trans kid who hasn’t even chosen a name supposed to save his friend, let alone the world? And is a world that seems hellbent on rejecting him even worth saving at all?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Middle Grade Fiction: January-June 2025

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Mountain Upside Down by Sara Ryan

Today on the site I’m delighted to reveal the cover of Mountain Upside Down by Sara Ryan, a contemporary Middle Grade by the author of my favorite early Sapphic YA, releasing February 11, 2025 from Dutton Books for Young Readers! Here’s the story:

A funny and heartfelt LGBTQIA+ middle grade novel set against the backdrop of family drama and a library funding campaign in a small town.

Alex Eager lives in Faillin, OR with her grandmother, a retired librarian. Life should be great for Alex, since she finally worked up the courage to ask her best friend PJ if they could be more than friends and she said yes. But their new relationship will have to be long distance, because PJ is moving. On top of that, Alex is worried that something is wrong with her increasingly forgetful grandmother. And to make matters worse, Faillin is holding a referendum on library funding, and things aren’t looking good. Will anything good for Alex ever last?

Mountain Upside Down is a beautifully crafted story of a thirteen-year-old girl finding her place in her family and her community. It’s a queer-positive story that doesn’t center coming out. It’s a story of a library’s role in a community that doesn’t feature book banning. And it’s a story of long-held family secrets and resentment that focuses not on final resolution but learning how to communicate again.

And here’s the sweet cover, designed by Anna Booth with art by Ana von Huben!

Dark blue-green background. The author's name, Sara Ryan, across the top in all caps in light green. Shadows of window panes and tree branches overlay the whole image. In the top third of the image is PJ, a thin short-haired brunette white girl in a light green swim team t-shirt, looking at texts on her phone. Next to PJ: a purple duffel bag, swim goggles, a stuffed star-nosed mole, a manila envelope and some papers. In the middle third, the title, MOUNTAIN UPSIDE DOWN, in all caps in white. In the bottom third, Snufkin, a long-haired gray cat, plays with markers that have just been used to color a SAVE OUR LIBRARY poster. Near the cat is Alex, a fat brunette white girl with her hair in a ponytail, wearing a pink motorcycle vest, blue-and-white striped short-sleeved shirt, rolled-up jeans and rainbow high tops. She's holding a bird necklace. Nearby: a framed photo of Alex and her grandmother, another photo of mountains and fir trees, and an open book with words blacked out for blackout poetry. Also, Alex and PJ wear matching friendship bracelets.

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

(c) Beth Olson Creative

Sara grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the only child of two librarians in a book-filled house. Their writing has been honored by Lambda Literary, the Eisner Awards, the American Library Association, and the Oregon Book Awards, among other recognition. Sara has worked as a fast-food cashier, a theater technician, a stringed-instruments-and-accessories seller, a preparer of materials for science experiments, a web designer for “JIFFY” Mix (briefly!), a teen services librarian, and a writing teacher. They’ve served as a mentor for We Need Diverse Books and a master class instructor with Writing the Other. Sara lives in Portland, Oregon.