Two terrific new middle grade novels out today offer different looks at queer tweens who feel invisible—figuratively or literally. One protagonist is a genderqueer youth on a dark, fantastical adventure (just don’t call him the hero); the other is a girl beginning to realize her asexual identity.
Click links or images for fuller reviews of each title.
Clementine H. Hopeful Is Not a Hero, by Noah Corey (Labyrinth Road). Combine the madcap imagination of Alice in Wonderland, the wild children of Peter Pan, and the dark edges of A Series of Unfortunate Events, and you might get something akin to this novel, an adventure (fable? allegory?) starring an original and compelling queer protagonist.
The gender creative and neurodivergent-cued Clementine knows that “Clementine’s a boy’s name if a boy has it. And I’m a boy. And I have it.” He also has the ability to speak with “angels,” what others might call monsters, living in the nearby woods. He knows he doesn’t fit in with his seventh grade class.
“Trying to explain myself to people—it’s like everyone’s staring at me, but also I’m invisible?”
When a mysterious boy named Bug breaks into his room one night, though, warning him about the monsters in the woods, Clementine sees a potential friend—and is soon whisked off on wild, magical adventures. As he starts to delve into whether their adventures are real, though, he begins to uncover secrets that tie in to the disappearance of his older sister Persimmon. And when he’s offered a bargain to change the world, he must weigh the cost, including his friendship with (and crush on) Bug. Is it better to be a hero and protect the world as it is, or become a villain and try to make things better?
A plot summary hardly does justice to the tale, though, which offers an imaginative, darkly entertaining, and pointed look at what makes a hero, villain, or monster, the experience of growing up queer in today’s world, and the cost of creating change. Middle grade readers who appreciate dark, funny tales with some horror elements should love this book—but it’s one that even older and grown readers may appreciate, too. Unique and highly recommended.
Content warning: Parental transphobia and verbal abuse.
Olivia Gray Will Not Fade Away, by Ciera Burch (Margaret K. McElderry Books). Everything is different for Olivia Gray now that she’s in seventh grade. Her friends are all obsessing about crushes, her gay brother has a boyfriend, and Olivia feels increasingly left out, since dating holds no interest for her. Olivia feels more and more invisible—to the point of literally disappearing at times.
The only two people who can see her then are Ms. Amelia, the new school librarian, and Jules, a nonbinary student in her class. Jules, too, has times of invisibility. After reading a book on asexual and aromantic identities, perceptively given to her by Ms. Amelia, and after conversations with Jules, Olivia starts to wonder if she might be asexual. But as the pressure to fit in mounts and she risks alienating even Jules, can she figure out who she is before she disappears entirely?
“Pretending to be like everyone else had only made things worse. She’d been either miserable or she was invisible and now she was both.”
Burch wisely emphasizes the inner work that Olivia must do in order to realize her aro-ace identity, while also showing how important it still is for queer youth to have queer books, mentors, role models, and peers. She gives us common beats of middle school social dynamics, but seen through a rare and important aro-ace lens. The twist of invisibility offers allegory and an engaging touch of the supernatural, making the book a highly recommended read.