I have absolutely no idea where I got this book. I don't remember buying it, but that doesn't mean I didn't. I don't remember someone giving me it, either. But it was on my shelves and I picked it up as part of my LGBTQ+ books only in January thing. I wanted to really like it, but unfortunately I just didn't.
It's a book about Spencer, who is a trans boy. He is fifteen and he's just moved schools, for complex reasons that get forgotten later. His younger brother is autistic and struggles with school, which I felt was portrayed in quite a stereotypical way which I didn't like. Their parents are incredibly involved in their lives. Their dad is Black and their mum is white, I think, which is not entirely relevant to the plot but it is a nice little side plot.
Spencer came out as trans as a kid as went on puberty blockers aged thirteen, and now uses testosterone gel. This isn't a huge part of the book either but it is relevant to Spencer's history. His parents are really supportive but due to what happened at his old school they don't want him to play soccer at his new school. But Spencer is a brilliant footballer and really wants to play, so he ends up going behind their back and tries out for the team anyway. He ends up getting selected, of course, and his team is happy to have him on board. But they don't know he's trans, and Spencer doesn't want to come out. His coach eventually - seriously, it takes forever to get to this point in the book - needs some ID for his permission stuff, and of course this means Spencer will be outed. He does eventually tells his parents but that takes forever too. A lot of the book goes really slow.
Meanwhile, Spencer does join the Queer Straight Alliance. There's a non binary kid there called Riley, who fears using the boys toilets at another point in the book, and Spencer helps them. I did like this bit. Riley wants to push for gender neutral bathrooms but the leader of the QSA isn't too keen on this. Spencer knows he needs to step up for himself and others, but it's a whole thing that he can't.
Then there's Justice. He's also on the soccer team and he rides a motorbike and Spencer immediately has a crush. He and Justice have Music Appreciation class together and end up playing soccer together too, so they get really close. Justice's family is Christian evangelists and they won't accept Justice's sexuality, and Spencer knows they won't accept him either. A lot of the romance between the two is really cute, but again, it drags.
I also feel like the book skews a lot younger than if it was written for fifteen year olds. Spencer and Justice often come off more like twelve or thirteen and a lot of the whole thing comes off like Middle Grade. A lot of how the teens talk to each other just doesn't ring true at all. There are no girls in the book, which annoyed me, and the ones who briefly appear are portrayed as silly and too 'girly'. There are flashes of loveliness - like the Homecoming Dance - but in general it just didn't ring true for me. The whole thing was a bit like an After School Special. I'm giving it two out of five.
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