This was a sweet novel, and Obie was a character one could root for. Even with all of the hardships, I appreciated that Obie had a supportive family by his side.

Representation matters, and Schuyler has done an #ownvoices in the strongest possible way. He too was assigned female at birth, as Obie is in this story, and He too was on the swim team. So, he knows by where he speaks, or writes in this case.

From the get-go, we see Obie being assaulted by his former friend, and unlike so many novels, Obie does go and report it, and we do get to see the bully kicked out of school.

This doesn't mean the rest of the book is just butterflies and roses, though.

Good voice for Obie. You feel the struggles he is going through, and it is so nice that his parents are right there helping him and loving him, every step of the way. Good book for middle graders to read if they are cis gendered or transgender, they will get things out of this either way.


<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>