This was a smidge intense I think for a young middle grader (due to the thought spirals and parental abuse J- goes through) but I think an upper middle grader who can handle slightly intense situations would be able to read this. It’s a compelling look into a kid growing up with ADHD and exploring their identity while attempting to understand their place in middle school / Ohio. Thank you to the publisher for the e-arc access to this novel in verse. I would put this in my classroom for my upper middle graders (I also liked seeing the Russian words and perspectives of the computer game to gauge where J- is at mentally.)

Glitch Girl is such a heartfelt, unique read. Told in verse, it follows J—, a trans girl with ADHD who's obsessed with a rollercoaster video game called Coaster Boss. The game gives her a sense of control she doesn’t have in real life—where middle school is overwhelming, her gender feels uncertain, and her crush on a girl named Junie is both exciting and scary.

The writing is raw and poetic, and J—’s journey of self-discovery feels real and tender. Meeting Sam, a nonbinary classmate, helps her see that it’s okay to not fit into neat little boxes.

It reminded me a lot of Too Bright to See—quietly powerful and deeply affirming. If you’ve ever felt like a “glitch” in the system, this book gets it.

3.5/5 Stars

J- is a young trans girl who is navigating an ADHD diagnosis, her feelings towards Junie, one of her classmates and some feelings of gender confusion. She spends most of her free time playing a video game called Coaster Boss.

The story is a very quick read, that I finished in one sitting. It is told in verse, but I listened to it on audio. For the majority of this book I just felt sad and heartbroken for what J- was going through. It didn't feel like things were going to get better in anyway. I hated the parents with a passion, and I just wanted to protect J- from them. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the "relationship" and felt it was a bit obsessive and a bit uncomfy. I liked that the story spanned the course of 3 years, to see more of J-'s growth and change that took place.

It was difficult to read this book in the ereader but excited for my library to get a copy for me to read. I was intrigued by the subject and I love novels in verse for kids

I have complicated feelings about Glitch Girl, and I think a lot of that has to do with my expectations going into the book. Rainie Oet's semi-autobiographical book in verse is powerful, vulnerable, and much darker than I had anticipated.

What I enjoyed/appreciated:
- Rainie Oet does not pander to her middle school audience. There are some genuinely heartbreaking moments in this story, particularly J-'s parents' physical abuse, as well as the bullying perpetrated by J-'s classmates. While I personally found these elements to be tremendously challenging to read, I do think that it can be important and beneficial for students to read stories like this, either as a mirror to reflect their own experiences or a window to build empathy.
- I appreciated some of the nostalgic elements of the book, which is set in the early 2000s. "Coaster Boss" very much felt like a tribute to the popular simulation games of the time (e.g. The Sims or Roller Coaster Tycoon), many of which I played throughout middle school.
- One of the strongest parts of the book was actually Oet's interview with the real-life inspiration for "Junie" and "Garrison" at the end of the book. I thought it was so enlightening to get to see their perspectives of the same situations depicted in the book. I so appreciated Oet's explanation for why she chose to include these interviews. "The past is so important to people. We can try our best to remember, but we can't ever really go back. Everyone lives from their own version of the past...Every person has their own story. You who are reading this, I hope that one day I can read yours."

What I struggled with:
- As mentioned above, the depiction of child physical and emotional abuse in this book was truly difficult to stomach at times. If I were to recommend this book to a student or colleague, I would definitely lead with content warnings.
- I also struggled reading J-'s perception of their ADHD, especially early in the book, e.g. "My ADHD makes me bad, is what Mama always says." I think it's important for readers to know that while this book is a truly vulnerable and honest portrayal of this young individual's experience with ADHD, there are many moments like this in which the character is internalizing their neurodivergence as objectively and inherently "bad".

Thank you to NetGalley and Kokila Books for my advanced reader copy.

This book was very difficult to rate, because on the one hand, it tells such a beautiful and raw story of a young neurodivergent trans child, and holds nothing back. It made me sit with discomfort and stress, but ultimately was very rewarding. On the other hand, I can see it being too much for some readers, and particularly a young audience might not want to continue with J’s story. However, I will still be thinking about this book for a long time, and I can definitely see it bringing solace/comfort to the readers that it’s written for.

In this thoughtful book, a gender-questioning youth navigates ADHD, their gender identity, and friendships. They struggle with making and keeping friends and relating appropriately to peers and adults. Their parents are physically violent with them, and lack any understanding or strategies to help them cope with their ADHD, and the child does not feel safe revealing their gender questions to them, instead allowing them to play endless video games.
I found this book depressing. I'm certain this reflects a horrible reality for many children, but it's not what I would choose to expose my middle-grade readers to without a lot of conversations and some counter perspectives.

Glitch Girl! is a book that is going to help some kids feel seen and help some kids understand their peers. It is so important for kids to be exploring books like this. I really enjoyed the interviews at the end to give some more perspective to the story.

I quite enjoyed this novel in-verse!

This story brought a lot of emotions and thoughts. This novel follows a young child who is diagnosed with ADHD, dealing with confusion about their gender, and an ever developing crush on a girl at school. To deal with and process all this, they play a rollercoaster park simulation video game every single day following them from fifth grade up until seventh grade.

This book stressed me all the way out, and as such I'm struggling to rate it.

When I picked this up, I didn't realize that it was in large part autobiographical, though there are many fictionalized elements. The author talks about this more at the end, and this makes a great deal of sense in hindsight. Oet's depiction of ADHD is extremely accurate, and as someone with ADHD, reading J---'s story (this is how the character is named in the book) left me with such a deep sense of secondhand shame that I felt physically ill with anxiety most of the time that I was reading. This isn't to say that I think J--- SHOULD be ashamed, but that my own memories, sparked by this story, were visceral and unsettling. Oet's language is often plain and direct, but it still packs an emotional punch and manages to convey a stunning amount of nuance.

From a technical perspective, I wished the language had reflected the changing age of the main character more. By the end, when J--- is thirteen, the sentence structures haven't really evolved. As a result, J--- felt a little bit trapped in time. We also spend a *LOT* of time in a fictional video game that's a mashup of The Sims and Rollercoaster Tycoon, and felt like that got a little tedious at times, though I understood the game's role in the story.

Despite a few little quibbles and my emotionally rocky reading experience, I thought this was a solid middle grade novel-in-verse. The finale is hopeful, and there's a Q&A at the end with the real-life versions of J---'s crush and 'rival.' I'm curious how Oet's writing style for adult poetry might differ from her MG style. This was a unique reading experience and I will definitely check out more of her work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Every kid sometimes feels uncomfortable in their own skin. But for trans kids, this can be made even worse by parents, teachers, and others who refuse to see the kid themselves.

This book hurts. But it's an important story to tell. J___, like every kid, deserves to be seen and loved. In the story, we get to see through her eyes as they explore inside the social construct of a video game while trying to navigate through middle school in the real world, constrained by undiagnosed ADHD, social anxiety, and abuse.

"Is 'bad' just the stuff that they don't want
'cause is doesn't make sense to them?
Like my ADHD? (Like my pronouns,
if I told them?)"

"But I know now, even my own shadow on my bedroom wall
is not completely dark."

And it's also about slowly finding hope, whether in real-life fencing or new ways to communicate. Honestly, middle school is hard enough. And finding your people can make it bearable.

"I write THEY in the fog.
I write SHE."

Middle boy who has been diagnosed with ADDH, perhaps is on the spectrum, but feels like a girl (he thinks). This is sort of a diary of a 5th thru 7th grade child who is confused about who (s)he is. He retreats into a computer game, is miunderstood by her parents, and has minimal social skills to interact with peers. I suspect parents should read the book before giving to their child and discussing it with him/her after they read it.

Glitch Girl! is a novel-in-verse about a young trans girl discovering who she is. I was super excited for this book because of the trans and ADHD representation and the character's interest in video games. However, my final rating is a 3.5 (rounded to 4).

I'll start off by saying, be aware that parts of this book are especially dark for a middle grade book. There is child abuse, dark thoughts, and an obsessive crush on a classmate. I feel like some parts of the story will be very relatable for a middle grade audience, like learning how to navigate crushes and friendships, dealing with the transition to middle school, feeling misunderstood, and figuring out personal identity. However, some parts of the story seemed very slow, especially for a novel-in-verse. I appreciate that the story covered several years in the main character's life, but it felt like there were also a lot of details to keep track of and to try to link together.

The author included interviews at the end of the book with "Junie" and "Garrison". As an adult, I feel like that provided me with some context and backstory that were relevant to the story, however I'm not sure that a middle grade reader would read the interviews and if they did they may not have the same take aways. I feel like stories like this one are extremely important, I just think that the way it was written won't have the mass appeal for young readers that I would hope for.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kokila for the opportunity to review an eARC of Glitch Girl!

Neurodiverget. Nonbinary. Trans girl. At first I thought it would be too much, but the author tells this story well. I enjoyed the Coster Boss gaming element to showcase J---'s feelings and experiences. I was heartbroken by J---'s complicated relationship with her parents. Written in verse and spanning grades 5 through 7 make this a great choice for middle school libraries.

Drawn from the author's own experiences, Glitch Girl!'s narrator, "J-", struggles with ADHD in school, an intense crush, past and present physical and emotional abuse, and gender feels wrapped up in all of it in this novel-in-verse following the character from fifth-though-seventh grade. Assigned male at birth, and terrified of memories of her father beating her after she wore a dress in pre-school, "J-" fixates on a girl she connects with in the fifth grade named Junie, Junie's friend Garrison, and a roller coaster park simulation game she uses to project her emotional and psychological turmoil onto.

Glitch Girl! is dark, much of it is bleak and obsessive. "J-" divides much of the narrative between an obsession with Junie, who becomes a vehicle for her own female identity, and using the roller coaster park simulator as a means of simulating violence towards park guests (she uses an import feature to give them faces of herself, her friends, and her family). The narrative, especially in the beginning when "J-" is just beginning treatment for ADHD, is especially scattered, jumping from her obsession with Junie, the game, and emotionally fraught interactions with her parents and unsympathetic teachers who blame her for not "controlling" her ADHD.

As the book continues, and she eventually meets kindred spirit Sam in Middle school, hope emerges from the dark. Still, this is a harsh read. Oet deftly portrays the scattered experiences of a neurodivergent tween/teen experiencing abuse and emotional neglect. "J-" 's interactions with her father are defined by a constant fear of violence, and her mother slaps her frequently early in the book, while both parents and teachers tell her she is "bad" frequently for failing to meet their benchmarks for behavior. This is especially glaring during sections where "J-" expresses an understanding of science and mathematics far beyond her grade level, an interest in schoolwork generally, and is scorned for it by both students and teachers.

Oet doesn't shy away from the darker aspects of the narrator's responses to the abuse and her own confusing emotions: J's obsession with Junie is almost frightening, as "J-" vacillates between a fantasized romantic relationship with Junie, and wanting to be Junie/pretending to take her place. The way she uses the game to both play out this obsessive crush, and her self destructive impulses can be hard to read, even when they feel authentically embodied in the poems. The book is also careful to develop the dark themes without over-explaining them, much in the way a person in the throws of them might experience; so that it's not until later in the story that readers discover their true meaning when "J-" puts together just what these obsessions in real life, and dark fantasies played out in the game, mean to her, really.

This was hard to read as an adult, but may resonate with youth struggling with issues similar to "J-", and could be a fiction resource to help let them know they are not alone in their feelings and experiences.

Glitch Girl! is about a young J-- in 5th through 7th grade navigating life with ADHD, friends and crushes, gender identity, and an emotionally neglectful family. You never really do learn J--'s name as J-- no longer identifies with that name and has yet (in the story) to choose a new one. With some differences, this book catalogs quite a few of the author's experiences growing up.

There are so many different layers to this book. The beginning jumps around quite a bit, but that only gives you a good insight to the ADHD brain that J-- is dealing with. It is also heartbreaking with J-- hearing so often when they are young that they are "bad" simply because they cannot control themselves quite like the other kids. There were several instances in the first half of this book, especially in the Coaster Boss scenes, that I was not sure where it was going - with all the borderline evil things that J-- would do to the park guests - that ended up making complete sense and coming together nicely in the end. Overall I thought this book was put together very well and really gave a great perspective on what goes through the brain of someone who is dealing with so many different difficulties and changes.

I did appreciate the interviews with the real "Junie" and "Garrison" at the end of the book. I feel that it really gave a good look at how some of the things that happen to us and consume so much of our thoughts, may not have been such a harsh memory to the others involved. You also get to see that as we grow there are quite a few things that we forget and just don't matter.

Glitch Girl! follows the life of J- who is discovering who she is and how she wants to show up in the world. Through poetry, Ranie Oet paints the portrait of an obsessed adolescent who has a difficult time connecting to peers and is navigating an ADHD diagnosis . Coaster Boss, a game in which a player can create amusement parks complete with rides, concessions, and park goers becomes J-s outlet and J- creates many different parks. Soon the parks feature the same characters over and over, as we discover J- has an obsession with a classmate and J-'s actions trend toward the violent side as she finds creative ways to torture her park goers. Readers will keep turning the pages of this book, wondering when J- will begin to realize that her self-destructive behaviors both in life and in her game aren't serving her, but unfortunately that realization comes too late and readers might be left feeling like they didn't get the ending they hoped for.

I really wanted to like this book, but I felt like it missed the mark a bit. The protagonist is trying to find themself, but I never felt connected to them. The friendships didn't feel genuine either.

Thank you PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Kokila for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Summary: Glitch Girl! is a middle-grade novel in verse following J—, a young trans person navigating ADHD, middle school loneliness, and self-discovery through their obsession with the video game Coaster Boss, ultimately finding friendship and the freedom to exist beyond rigid labels.

Review: Glitch Girl! is an intense and chaotic novel in verse that mirrors the experience of an ADHD brain, pulling readers into J—’s raw and deeply personal journey of self-discovery. Told in a powerful first-person perspective, the story doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable, heartbreaking moments as J— navigates identity, isolation, and an overwhelming home and school life. The novel includes heavy themes, with content warnings for trauma, physical and emotional abuse, self-harm, misgendering, transphobia, homophobia, and bullying—though it’s important to note that the book does not explicitly state that the parental abuse is directed at the main character.

This is an extremely tough but necessary read, offering an unfiltered look into J—’s struggles and resilience. While the frequent video game sequences may feel repetitive, they serve as a crucial lens through which J— processes their emotions. Glitch Girl! is not an easy book, but it’s an important one, offering representation and validation to those who have felt unseen or boxed in by the world around them.

Genres/Themes: Juvenile Fiction / LGBTQ+ / Neurodiversity / Stories in Verse

Glitch Girl! is scheduled for publication on March 11, 2025, by PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Kokila.

Glitch Girl is such an interesting book. I am certain it's going to win awards. I've never read anything like it (the closest comparison I can think of is Louder Than Hunger), and I've never seen a young POV portray ADHD so accurately. Based loosely on the author's own experiences from 5th-7th grade, this is deeply personal and includes important representation.

J- is transgender, has intense ADHD, and feels misunderstood. By parents, whose frustrations with J-'s behavior turns abusive. With classmates and teachers, who think J- is being disruptive on purpose. By Junie (J-'s crush) and Garrison (Junie's friend), who went from being friendly to saying not so nice things. J- blames J- which is heartbreaking and difficult to read.

The only solace J- finds is in a roller coaster sims type game. J- builds park after park, different roller coasters and different guests, trying to find glitches in the game design. Sometimes the game turns deadly. J-'s mother finds this particularly disturbing, although J- doesn't mean for it to happen.

This is an extremely tough book to read. It's deeply personal and the first person POV is as close as a reader can get to J-'s thoughts. It was not an easy read, at times I had to push myself to continue, especially as there were so many scenes featuring the roller coaster computer game. There also wasn't much plot, it was deeply character driven, and all of it in J-'s point of view was intense (I think deliberately so). And despite some of the middle section being slow, the ending felt too abrupt.

Be sure to check the content warnings before reading. A bonus I really enjoyed were the interviews at the back of the book with the real people Junie and Garrison are based on. Fascinating!

Recommended for ages 10+ due to mature themes.