The One Who Loves You the Most
by Medina (Author)
I have never felt like I belonged to my body. Never in the way rhythm belongs to a song or waves belong to an ocean.
It seems like most people figure out where they belong by knowing where they came from. When they look in the mirror, they see their family in their eyes, in their sharp jawlines, in the texture of their hair. When they look at family photos, they see faces of people who look like them. They see faces of people who they'll look like in the future.
For me, I only have my imagination.
But I'm always trying.
Twelve-year-old Gabriela is trying to find their place in the world. In their body, which feels less and less right with each passing day. As an adoptee, in their all-white family. With their mom, whom they love fiercely and do anything they can to help with her depression. And at school, where they search for friends.
A new year will bring a school project, trans and queer friends, and a YouTube channel that help Gabriela find purpose in their journey. From debut author medina comes a beautifully told story of finding oneself and one's community, at last.
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Publishers Weekly
Music-loving Honduran American adoptee Gabriela Ricci, 12, isn't sure how to write about their "authentic self" for an essay assignment. They feel out of place in their adoptive white family and their own body, which was "growing in places I was increasingly becoming more and more uncomfortable about." But with supportive new friends--Indian- and Peruvian-American YouTuber Abbie, who is trans and intersex, and Guatemalan American Héctor, who is pansexual and gender-fluid--Gabriela discovers new words to describe themself, such as nonbinary and asexual. While establishing the confidence to express themself, Gabriela struggles with navigating their mother's depression, experiences homophobia and transphobia, and embarks on their first romantic relationship with their crush. Though the supporting cast's characterizations feel thin, and the motivations behind a developing friendship between a bully and their victim are unclear, Gabriela's powerhouse voice propels the narrative. Their friends and mother model unconditional support, and medina empathetically approaches difficult topics such as one person's experience living with a parent with a mental illness. This debut is a love letter to self-acceptance's power and a solid introduction to the notion of queer identity. Ages 8-14. Agent: Marietta B. Zacker, Gallt & Zacker. (May)
Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JUV060000 - Juvenile Fiction | LGBT
JUV074000 - Juvenile Fiction | Diversity & Multicultural
Identity (Psychology)
Depression, Mental
Gender identity
Middle school students
Transgender people
