Too much of a girl for their neighborhood hockey team, but not girly enough for their boy-crazed BFF, Ollie doesn’t know where they fit anymore. When a school project asks them to write an essay on what it means to be a woman, Ollie finds themself torn between the safety of hiding and the risk of embracing their truth.

This middle-grade novel about a nonbinary kid coming into their own is absolutely beautiful. As an adult navigating similar questions, it felt incredibly healing to read. So many of Ollie’s thoughts around gender, identity, and being seen as a woman were deeply resonant, right in the feels, again and again. I'm so happy that kids today have access to stories like this.

Slightly disappointed that Ollie was clearly written as autistic but it never got mentioned at any point. I guess that's something else they're going to have to figure out, but it could have been briefly mentioned already...

I received an e-ARC and am giving my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this opportunity!

This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime book. I didn't come out as trans until late in my high school career, and during COVID at that, so I didn't really experience a lot of the gender issues until much later, but that didn't mean that this book wasn't relatable anyways, and I know that if I had had a story like this at that age it would've been everything to me. The feeling of wanting to stay safe versus knowing that your friend needs your help, and that help comes with a lot of ramifications, is something that so many teens deal with, especially queer teens. I had situations similar many times when I was younger, and still do.

The imagery this book provides, the feelings Ollie has, are so incredibly done and feel so real. It almost felt as if I was feeling them all as well, between how well they were described and how relatable they are.

This is the kind of book I will never stop recommending, especially to all of my students. This is the kind of thing queer kids need to read, to know they're not alone. It perfectly sums up part of the trans experience, and in a way that is easy to stomach for younger kids and easy to relate to. Truly incredible and should be a staple in classrooms everywhere.

I'm a longtime fan of Vico Ortiz from their work in Our Flag Means Death and Fionna and Cake, so was beyond delighted to see they were narrator for such an incredible book. And they did not disappoint. Their tone and way of speaking was so perfect the entire time, and truly brought it all to life in a really lovely way. I Heart Vico Ortiz

Non-binary almost-13-year-old Ollie faces the “ultimate biological predator”: puberty. Tasked with writing an essay on what it means to grow up, Ollie must wrestle with the rift that seems to be growing between them and their classmates when it comes to what they imagine adolescence will bring.

This felt very Judy Blume and I loved that throwback to the tween books that were so honest and connected to how young people actually think. This feels like a non-binary or gender non-conforming version of Are You There God. It’s Me, Margaret. Ollie felt very like me at their age, though perhaps that’s just the non-binary and the fact Ollie seems somewhat autistic-coded. Ollie’s mantra of “it’s fine” when faced with increasingly very much not fine things feels so honest to those kids who are people pleasers out of a need to survive, and I really feel like this will be one of those books, in the hands of children who need it, will feel like a survival guide.

In terms of narration, I really loved Vico and their performance, especially as you can tell how much they believe in the story.

Loved it! Very sweet and the sort of book I wish I had when I was younger. I enjoyed the friends and family depiction and the language used to describe coming out

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This audiobook was a wild ride to me. You really get the impresión of being on Ollie's head and on Ollie's mindset. I think the narrator did a wonderful job at conveying teenagers' anxieties and gave the story a good flow. Moreover, the inflections on the voices help follow the story better for younger readers, so I will definitely recommend it to a couple of my teenage students that I know have very similar doubts on theirselves as the main characters, specially Ollie's. Heads up to Vico Ortiz and to the publishers, a great choice.

As a genderqueer adult, Ollie's story has deeply resonated with me. I was having quite a bad time when I started listening to the audiobook, and it felt like a long hug. Coming of age stories of queer kids rarely focus on gender-doozy feelings and usually portray easier relationships to transness and other queerness, so Ollie in Between felt like fresh air.

I know I would have loved the book when I was younger and had not realized yet that I was queer, although I already felt like there was something wrong with how things worked. Another plus: dogs! I have had dogs since I was a kid and have taken care of lots of them through the years.

I found Ollie's project and track of thought very interesting and very understandable, since puberty is usually a whole ordeal. I did a similar thing back then and got really frustrated, and I know my students will benefit from reading and, preferrably, listening to this audiobook as, at the very least, a nice thinking project book.

This was a gorgeous audiobook.
The plot was so spot on, and so apt for the now of the world.
Ollie's voice really shone through with this one, and was brought to life through the narrator.
I feel like if this book had been available when I was a kid, I would have been so happy to read it. We desperately need more books like this.

This book was a great combination of LGBTIA+
And also selfawareness a young age. The main characterin this book It's having a hard time Understanding who they and what they want to identify as. This is very important especially in culture now days and gives such a great insight into the emothions and pressures younger teens have descovering themselves.
I would definitely recommend this book and I will be looking out for more from this author in the future..

A wonderful, hopeful book that will definitely help some kids realize that they are trans and one that is going to build the communities those kids need. This is the kind of book that saves lives.

This was a really solid debut. I just love middle grade/ coming of age stories so much. Add in a queer cast and I am seated. Ollie was low key autism coded and high key asexual coded so I enjoyed going along their journey with them. They were certainly asking the tough questions that not many others are thinking of at that or any age.

Okay, I recommend this book, but I REALLY recommend the audiobook because Vico Ortiz, as always, knocks it the whole way out of the park.

So, I’m… agender, maybe, definitely not gender conforming anyway. And I ask a lot of questions when reading books, particularly books for kids, that tackle gender. This is mostly because I feel like kids’ books try to simplify gender, or even just hone in on a tidy answer about how to define what gender is. I have some thoughts about how Ollie’s interview project (based, it seems, on a project by the author) portrays womanhood. Most of the women in included in this book are more traditionally femme, and I would have liked to see a bit more diversity there. Not that this would have changed anything for Ollie’s ID, of course, but it ended up feeling slightly stilted in terms of characters who DO identify as women. This device is trying to pull double duty in both helping Ollie try to understand their own confusion, and in defining the amorphous thing that is womanhood (and gender in general). I think it was more successful in the former than the latter.

Other than that, I quite enjoyed this, although the end felt a little too easy in someways. I get why that is, though. We deserve happy conclusions right now. The middle is much more fraught, and while I sometimes wonder if I’m just too old to read Middle Grade books anymore, this one reminded me how much these stories still mean to me, and how much I wish I’d had more books like this back in my day. *shakes my cane at the sky*

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the audio ARC of this book!

I Adored this book, the growth of all the characters and Ollie's growth and learning through out the novel and learning to speak for themself and their friends.
The Narrator was wonderful, very clearly spoken and kept me very engaged in the storyline.
I look forward to more books by this author and read by this narrator.

If you are a queer or trans person, be sure that you are in a good mental health space before starting this book. I had to put this book down for a few days before coming back to it.

Olive is just a kid trying to navigate their young life and figuring out whether they are a boy, a girl, or someone else entirely. Without having adequate resources and examples of adults who are thriving as a non-binary person, Olive struggles with being constantly misgendered. Follow Olive as they learn to navigate life as a young non-binary person just trying to make it through the day.

Recommended for people of the queer and trans community, or readers trying to learn more about non-binary experiences.

(I received this ALC via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you.)

thank you, NetGalley for an advanced ALC of this book

Listening to this audiobook I can say it was nicely done with a Voice that made u care for the story you are listening to, the gentleness of their voice was soothing and nice to listen to.

This story is about finding yourself and your identity at a young age, wanting to know what defines you by who you are personality, gender, clothes, appearance (makeup etc), but nowadays we are told so much about different ways of being that I can imagine things being confusing.

I want to state that I am no expert or fully knowledgeable about not feeling comfortable with my own body, gender or any form of being able to question anything.

For a young teenager/ mid to late I can see this being a story that can be relatable for some when it comes to questions about who they are, and taking comfort in knowing they are not the only one with such complex emotions etc.

The book felt a little competitive at times but it was an interesting read

I received an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.

If it wasn't almost 0400 and this chest infection that won't quit wasn't making the prospect terrifying and agonising, I would be full on ugly crying right now. However, I am absolutely covered in goosebumps and my feels have been well and truly kicked in.

This...is without a shadow of a doubt one of the best and most beautiful books I've ever read!

Yes, this is a book aimed at younger readers and I am older with more of a penchant for the more adult kinds of disaster Queers and all kinds of horror, but this book is truly special and spoke to my Queer soul.

Ollie is a a mixed race kid with a single dad who, while it isn't directly referenced, comes off as neurodivergent with their difficulties understanding others, expectations, and the glorious hyperfixation with crustaceans and creepy crawlies that they drop facts about and picture themselves as. They are also navigating gender and Queerness and puberty and school with everything that brings with it.

This is a beautiful story of self-acceptance, overcoming adversity, finding your people and yourself that feels so incredibly important with how scary things are for trans and non binary folx at the moment.

I truly cannot express what it means to me knowing that some kid can listen to this and gain some understanding and perspective of themselves and those around them. It makes my heart swell.

There's a very sad and confused child in me who never had the words or understanding to be themselves. It's been a long process and I am living authentically and happy now, but the will always be a wound where the childhood I never got to have was. Reading this book went some way towards healing that child.

I really cannot say enough about how engaging, honest, entertaining, and informative, without ever being dull or preachy, this book is.

I'm speechless and so appreciative x

I needed this book, both today as an adult, and for my inner queer child. It brought tears to my eyes multiple times, I laughed so hard remembering how it felt to be 12. I felt so seen.

Ollie’s bluntness and their inner thoughts as they navigated figuring themselves out was so real and rang very true to mine and many others’ never ending journeys. I remember also making a list of things to do to be viewed as “normal” when I was a kid, and eventually throwing it away as I instead started figuring out how to be me.

Ollie’s story is one that needs to be told because it is so similar to many kid’s stories and I am so grateful to have had the chance to listen.

I wish I had this book in middle/high school. I would’ve cried for weeks. As a mom now, I did have a little a little. The narrator was perfect, the story was stunning, and I love this.

5/5⭐️ First of all, thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an arc of “Ollie in between”. This book means so much to me 🖤 Even if i’m not experiencing exactly what Ollie was going through, there were a lot of times throughout the book where i saw myself in they/them. I highly recommend this book to absolutely everyone, especially to those who ever felt like they don’t belong. I will 100% buy this book to annotate it and add it to my collection ✨🌈

Very hopeful and sweet coming of age gender discovery for ollie! I wish I was this self aware and in-tuned with myself in middle school.

Thanks to RBMedia and Recorded Books for the audioARC.

🩵 trans, non-binary and queer kids
🩷 figuring out who you are
🤍 being brave enough to be who you are
🩷 queer kids gravitating towards eachother
🩵 autism rep, anxiety/panic attacks, half-Iranian non-binary MC

I just loved this. So many relatable things with Ollie's gender journey, even though they are 12 and I was ~20 when I started questioning my gender. This book questions what it means to be a woman, and shows that most women can't really give a satisfying answer to that.

This is a middle-grade book, but I think it works for any ages, and especially for people questioning their gender or people wanting to learn more about trans/non-binary experience.

The audiobook is narrated by Vico Ortiz, which I think was a perfect fit. I love the way they tell a story and I love their voice.

This could've been a heartachingly bleak read in this current climate of widespread and state-sactioned hostility against trans and nonbinary children. And not gonna lie, Ollie's justified fear and paralysis over their identity did gut me and took me back to similar feelings of shame and insufficiency as a genderqueer child. But ultimately this ended up being rather wholesome, with no particularly horrific tragedies befalling queer children, and transphobia of all ages being called out and put in their places, but not magically converted out of their bigotry. I like that for a middle grade book, even if it lacks nuance for even a slightly older young adult reader. Ollie's interview project, akin to the author's which led to both of their gender journey, is super interesting in revealing how everyone in the spectrum of gender is isolated in their own ways, and that was refreshing to see in a middle grade book. That said, the part I wish would be been explored a bit more was about their Persian side of the family and what that heritage brought to the table of the gender questioning beyond just the food and the vague memories of a deceased mom. The choice of Vico Ortiz as the audiobook narrator is always brilliant and really allowed Ollie's personality to shine through and make them so easy to empathize with. Thanks to Netgalley for both an ebook and audiobook ARC.