Ode to My First Car

April 15, 2023
Coming out as bisexual? Not easy. Admitting you love your best friend? Potentially disastrous. The summer before senior year, Claire Kemp totals her beloved car, Lars, her ticket to escaping her financially struggling family--mom, dad, and younger brother, Chris. Lars gave Claire the freedom to take aimless drives through the suburbs outside Philly and spend time with the person she secretly loves: her trans best friend, Sophia. Unsure whether Sophia, who dates boys, is attracted to girls too, Claire is afraid to reveal her feelings. Instead, she has her first queer sexual relationship with classmate Pen. To pay off the expenses related to her accident, Claire takes a job at a nursing home, where she befriends Lena, an 85-year-old lesbian who serves as a valuable mentor and guide. Claire also learns that Chris is closeted and gay, and the siblings' journeys to embracing their sexualities are intertwined. Written in free verse, the first-person narration follows Claire's inner experiences as she navigates queerness, shares her inner hopes and fears, and shows readers how to find true freedom. The story moves quickly, combining introspection with action, and is likely to appeal even to reluctant readers. Most characters read White by default. A compelling tale that explores queerness, friendship, and love. (author's note) (Verse fiction. 14-18)

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April 17, 2023
Bisexual 17-year-old Claire Kemp’s summer plans—escaping her family’s cramped apartment in Trappe, Pa., to hang out with her transgender best friend and secret crush Sophia—are dashed when she totals Lars, her beloved first car. To pay off fines from the crash, she starts working at a local nursing home, where she meets 85-year-old lesbian Lena. As Lena recounts stories from her own past that help Claire feel more confident in her queerness, Claire begins dating classmate Pen. She hopes that their budding romance will lead to her much-anticipated “sexual debut” and also help her get over her feelings for Sophia. But Sophia’s own new relationship with a controlling boy means she has less time for Claire, causing their friendship to fray. Meanwhile, familial conflicts surrounding whether or not Claire and her brother Chris, who is gay, should come out to their parents put a damper on Claire’s summer. Gow (Dear Mothman) thoughtfully unpacks a variety of issues, including economic anxiety, guilt, and identity exploration via empathetic verse poems narrated by Claire to Lars. Though its many through lines don’t always cohere, this is a sweet, encouraging read with a big heart. Major characters read as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jordan Hamessley, New Leaf Literary.

Starred review from June 1, 2023
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Seventeen-year-old Claire is bisexual and secretly in love with her best friend, Sophia, who is trans and presumably straight. As summer approaches, both girls compile lists of hookup possibilitites, and when Claire includes girls, she finds herself coming out to Sophia, though she is careful not to share her feelings. But then she finds herself falling for beautiful Pen, who is also on her list and may actually return her feelings. If that sounds complicated, it is, and the complications only grow when Claire totals Lars, her beloved first car, and faces a summer with no transportation. When she takes a summer job at a nearby nursing home, she meets 85-year-old Lena, who shares "wonderfully queer" stories of her life as a young lesbian. Claire relays this all in verse, replete with odes, her favorite poetic form, which dramatically capture her conflicted feelings about Pen and Sophia. Gow writes with authority, insight, and considerable poetic skill, breathing new life into the familiar trope of a queer character falling for their best straight friend. The result is a highly readable, character-driven exercise in literary fiction that is highly recommended.

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