Readers will likely come away with new understanding and empathy for those who don't - or didn't - have labels for how they identified, until a few years ago.Īnd class comes into play, as Felix lives on the poverty line while his friends enjoy Succession-level wealth in New York, complete with extra homes and caterers on call. He's grappling with gender identity, which the book skillfully tackles. Felix's fumbling attempts to figure out what love means and what it's supposed to feel like - while learning he's worthy of it - make for the novel's most anxious and heart-warming bits.īook Reviews A Nonbinary Teen Makes Their Way In The World In 'I Wish You All The Best'Īnd what can compete with the intensity of that age - when you're discovering who you really are, finding first love and learning that you're worth it? The emotional journey of young love gives the novel a universal feel, despite the multiple identity labels that make life for Felix so challenging. It turns out there's plenty left to say in this rendering, because it is complicated by layers and layers of identity work. What else is there to say?' one adult character remarks, halfway through the book.

The quest to find out takes us, and Felix, on an emotional roller coaster to explore his own identity and his relationships with his friends at the same time.Īnd, of course, there's love. (This is set in modern-day New York, after all.) But lest all this sound like too idealized a cast, the propelling mystery of this tightly-written YA novel surrounds who at school is behind a traumatizing transphobic act against Felix.

When we meet the eponymous protagonist in Felix Ever After, he has been out as trans for several years and found himself a squad comprising other LGBT youth of ethnic backgrounds mixed up in various ways. As if adolescence wasn't tricky enough already! That's especially true if you're a black, transgender, queer teenager on a scholarship at an elite Brooklyn high school for the arts - and in competition for one slot at Brown University.

It feels political these days, just to exist. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title Felix Ever After Author Kacen Callender

Felix ever after