Seventeen-year-old Gael is used to keeping to himself. Though his best friend gets him to attend a meeting of Plus, a support group for LGBTQIA+ teens, Gael doesn't plan on sharing much. Where would he even start? Between supporting his mother through bouts of depression, keeping his distance from his estranged father, and navigating senior year as a transgender boy at a conservative Tennessean high school, his life is a lot to unload on strangers. So when he meets open, easygoing Declan, Gael can't help but feel a littel out of his depth. And as their relationship deepens, Gael begins to find himself caught between the tentative joys of a widening social circle and the pains of his father's increasingly persistenct attempts to reconnect as his mother mental health worsens. After tragedy strikes, Gael must decide if he can trust his ew friends with his whole heart or if the risk of letting the walls around it come down is too great.

Seventeen-year-old Gael, a trans boy, learns to let his walls down while finding community, discovering his sexuality, falling in love, and navigating difficult family situations.

Ages 14 up. Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.

Grades 10-12. Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.