A trans boy and a goth girl become unlikely friends in a fun story about connections, growth, and change.
Linus is the new boy at Doolittle Middle School in Ohio, happy to make a new start where no one knows he’s trans. Green-haired, black-clad Etta is the class misanthrope, who wants nothing more than to get into an alternative high school and away from her current classmates, particularly Marigold, her former best friend, who has suddenly abandoned their friendship.
Etta’s skeptical and surly attitude about pretty much everything, including the school’s student council, leads to a challenge from Marigold to get Linus—new kid and long shot—elected student council president. Etta accepts, both to prove to Marigold that she can do it and to have something for her high school application. Soon, however, Etta finds she actually enjoys the friendship of funny, kind Linus. Linus likes her company in turn, happy to have a friend in his new community, despite their different personalities. His feelings for Marigold, however, go beyond friendship to a full-on crush. But if he find out that Etta’s interest in him was started by a bet, will this ruin their friendship? And what happens if Etta finds out about his crush on her nemesis Marigold?
Through the chapters that alternate Linus and Etta’s voices, author Caroline Huntoon thoughtfully explores the shifting sands of middle-school friendships and social circles, while also weaving in Linus’s experiences as a trans boy. While the story is not fundamentally or solely about Linus’s trans identity, the fact that he is deciding who to come out to and when clearly influences many of his actions. And although his parents know he is trans and are trying to be accepting, they still have a ways to go—in particular, because they don’t stand up for him when his grandmother deadnames and misgenders him, a tension that simmers through much of the book.
Huntoon keeps the story from becoming a trope-y tale of a trans boy finding acceptance, however, by making it more globally about the ways we connect with people, make space for ourselves and others to figure out what we want, and about the transitions that all young people go through, trans or cis. Linus experiences all of this one way because he is trans; Etta experiences it another because she is cis, and we can all learn a lot from their similarities and differences here. Despite the underlying messages, however, the book is a very fun read. Both Linus and Etta have their own humorous takes on the world, making for an entertaining story and characters whom readers should be happy to spend time with. Indeed, although the story is self-contained and there is no hint of a sequel, I’d love to see another tale about the two of them. Highly recommended.
Linus, Etta, and Margold read as White.
