Oop. Kermit had a lot to deal with emotionally.

His sexuality. The death of his sister. His spirituality.

I loved the concept of the -1. Death happens often and is one of the hardest things to cope with in life. The club intrigued me because I wondered how they could exist without talking about the why.

Poor Matt. He was spiraling and leaning on Kermit wasn’t the best when Kermit was struggling so bad.

I liked that there was no perfect ending.

I can already see comps of a gay Fault in our Stars, but I think that undersells this excellent YA novel. Kermit, it's a family name, is dealing with losing his sister, contemplating his sexuality & talking to his parents about it, and his relationship with god and his church. That is a PLATEFUL of stuff to deal with and this book does not softball the content. Magoon also does not let the book fall into cliche tropes either. Yes, there is the mom who dies of cancer and a distracted father; a sister killed by a drunk driver; a teen who feels guilty for surviving an accident; a closeted religious gay teen; and the sole out gay teen in a conservative town....as many tropes as her name character's issues - none of the plot points go exactly as you might expect. This will not be that the uplifting comforting read that some might way, but it is the read that many teens need. They might need it because they like Kermit have parents they love and who love them, but whom they cannot be honest with about who they are and thier sexuality or faith or identity. Others might also need to read it to realize that this is still the reality for many teens. There are no easy solutions for mental health problems or addiction and some parents are not just not perfect, but not there. It doesn't mean that things cannot get better and that you cannot find allies. Not a happily ever after, but it still ends with hope for the future.

When he loses his sister, Kermit is invited to join the secret Minus-One Club, in which a handful of fellow students who have also lost a close family member spend time together in the comfort of a space where no one has to pretend to be OK to make others comfortable. In the Club, every topic is allowed, except the topic of grief and loss. But in their side hangouts, Kermit and fellow club member Matt give readers the opportunity to explore the many ways grief can be dealt with, and the festering that can occur when grief is not dealt with, in whatever way deemed best by the person grieving.

There is a lot happening in this book: grief, addiction, religion, mental health (especially depression), romance, sexuality and toxic masculinity. But the thing that marked me the most is how the club initially is all about ignoring the death and the grief of their members and acting as if everything is normal. This is something needed, true, but at the same time, when taken to the extreme that it is in the club, it’s not always needed and/or not needed by everyone.

It was interesting to see the many ways that a person in grief can be supported. In one poignant scene, one club member is sobbing while the others just hang out, as if nothing out of the ordinary is happening. I was at first a little uncomfortable with this scene, but as a friend of mine who is familiar with grief said, sometimes it’s just nice to be able to just express one’s grief in the presence of others doing mundane, normal things. But, again, when taken to the extreme, the grief has nowhere to go but inside, where we fester and develop sometimes very unhealthy coping mechanisms. I felt like this book was, in a way, an exploration of grief, and an opportunity for readers to either find healthy ways to deal with their grief or help those around them grieving do so in as healthy way as possible.

Oof, this book is messy and emotional. At it’s center The Minus-One Club is a story of grief and finding your way forward after the death of a loved one, but it is also a story of friendship and identity.

Kermit just lost his sister after a drunk driver hit her car head-on, and now he has to go back to school and try getting back to “normal.” But he finds an anonymous note in his locker inviting him to a secret meeting, where other classmates who’ve lost loved ones meet. But the most important rule of the club is they don’t talk about IT. At first this works and Kermit loves making new friends who get it, but as he gets closer to Matt and sees under his bright veneer, they start to learn there are some things you can’t keep bottled up all the time.

This book was hard to put down, but it was also a rough read on many fronts. Kermit and Matt don’t have the healthiest coping methods and there’s a lot of religious pressure on Kermit’s part about his sexuality and struggling with the idea of coming out. I appreciated that this is a story that really talks about how coming out isn’t as simple and clean cut as stepping out a door, but a constant process, and also talks about how you don’t have to come out to everyone to be valid - you’re safety is more important than any pressure to come out where it could make you unsafe. I especially liked how the story felt full-circle with the final chapter and seeing how much growth has occurred for these characters.

If you’re a fan of messy, grief-filled stories of teens surviving and growing, this may be perfect for you. Definitely be prepared for some rough topics and themes, but I felt like it was handled realistically and made efforts to challenge harmful ideas.

[cannonball review will post Jan 20, 2023]

Is literary YA a thing? If it is, Kekla Magoon is one of its premier artists. Her style features short, staccato chapters that are like poetry darts--but for poetry resisters such as myself, don't worry, it's all prose, no novel-in-verse treachery! The narrator and newest member of the Minus-One Club is Kermit, a closeted teen who just lost his older sister in a car accident. The object of Kermit's affection is Matt, a charter Minus-One member, who is part of the club by virtue of his mother's cancer death.

At first, I was concerned that Matt was suffering from perfect YA boyfriend syndrome, but as the story unfolds, we learn that despite Matt's outward appearance as the Indiana town's one public gay, he's just as troubled as the other members of the club. Unfortunately, a rule of Minus-One Club is there is no talking about it (death, grief, loss)--even at club events.

Kermit's story reminds us (me) that though things are easier now for queer teens than they once were, coming out is still a Big Deal, especially if you come from a Baptist family and live in a state that would elect Mike Pence governor.

It's mentioned in passing at one point that Kermit is biracial. None of his friends' racial identities is referenced. cw: drinking, suicidal ideation

Oh, my heart. It was broken and put back together again so many times in this book I should have scars. A beautiful story of grief and finding your way back from it with LGBT rep, this is the perfect book if you need a good cry that ends with hope. I'm not usually a fan of short chapters, but I am a fan of back and forth between present and past, and both worked really well for this context. This was such a fantastic story that I can't even form the right sentences to review because it was that powerful. Just read it.

How do you deal with grief, pain, sadness?
How do you feel whole again after a loss?
How do you come out in a religious family when your dead sister was the only one knowing your secret?

Alternating between now, then, and dreams, The Minus-One Club tells Kermit’s story, a fifteen-year-old closeted boy who loses his sister in a car accident. At school, he gets invited to the minus-one club, a secret club whose members are teens who have also lost a family member.

The short chapters and the blunt, direct, and simple writing fit this story really well. Kekla Magoon shows us how people react differently to a loss. Some people scream and cry, some people get indifferent, some people get angry, and some people bottle everything up inside. I loved the second half of the story the most; Kermit and Matt so clearly grieving in different ways. I wanted to hug these boys so much, especially Matt, on the outside, the easy-going, likable boy, and so lost on the inside. My chest tightened when he started to talk, when all the hurt came to the surface, and especially towards the end, goosebumps crawled over my body, and lumps formed in my throat.

Even though this book is very easy to read, it’s definitely not an easy one. Please, check out the trigger warnings! I’m so happy I found this story on NetGalley, though, and hope it will get all the attention it deserves!

Kekla Magoon tackles tough questions and relevant issues with an authentic youth-oriented voice. A highly recommended must-have for young readers, school libraries, and classroom shelves.

Thanks Netgalley and Henry Hold & Company for this eARC, these opinions are my own. This book has a lot of feels. Kermit's sister just died and on his return to school he receives an invite to meeting at school. Turns out he's been invited to join a club, a club no one should have to join. All the members have lost a loved one. The rules are simple they meet in secret and never talk about IT. Matt is also a member of the clued and Kermit has had feelings for him for a while, but Kermit isn't out and not sure how is conservative parents would handle it. The two grow close inside and outside the club. But will the rules of the club be enough to help them get through? I enjoyed this tail of grief and the different ways that people deal with that. We are not all the same and grief hits us all differently. I like that this book showed that and that it dealt with some difficult things surrounding how people grief. I also like that the characters grew and the club changed as the experienced these things. I like how the ending kind of felt like it was coming full circle! Highly recommend checking this one out!