Tag: Opting Out

Posted in Graphic Novels, Middle School, Realistic Fiction, Tween Reads

An add for your graphic novel shelves: Opting Out by Maia Kobabe & Swati “Lucky” Srikumar

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Opting Out, by Maia Kobabe & Swati “Lucky” Srikumar, (May 2026, Scholastic Graphix), $14.99, ISBN: 978-1-339-01224-7

Ages 10-12

Saachi approaches seventh grade with a lot of mixed feelings. In sixth grade, they were surrounded by a core group of friends and their best friend, Lyla, shared Saachi’s love of fantasy novels and imagination. But in seventh grade, Lyla finds a boyfriend and isn’t interested in spending as much time with Saachi. Saachi’s also not a fan of the changes in her body, either: breasts and bras? Periods? AUGH! Saachi doesn’t want to be a girl or a boy: they just want to be. Be a writer; be a friend, be a person that isn’t expected to date a boy or a girl. A conflict in school with their bully serves as a turning point for self-examination; Saachi also turns to her family, who are ready to support them. Saachi’s father in particular spends time listening to and encouraging them to create their own path. Saachi’s decision to “opt out” of the binary and its expectations sees and acknowledges the stress facing nonbinary teens: Saachi’s stress at having their first period hits like a gut punch; likewise, the emotions on their face when hearing their father correct a family member on a transgender person’s proper pronouns fills readers with warmth. Opting Out is a quietly powerful story for middle schoolers and high schoolers alike. Saachi and their family are Indian, and their culture and mythology are richly featured throughout the book. There’s a great callback panel to Kobabe’s Gender Queer featured and it beautifully communicates Saachi’s internal feelings.

Opting Out has a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

Posted in Fiction, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, picture books, Teen, Tween Reads

Scholastic brought the party!

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Scholastic has been bringing the party to librarians and bookish folk! First, we had the in-person Graphix celebrations and Comic-Con parties, and now we had a virtual LLX (formerly the American Library Association’s Midwinter conference, then LibLearnX) party where we got to see authors and Scholastic editors talk about some exciting upcoming Spring books. For those folks who got their responses in early, we got a box of ARCs AND candy!

Sour Patch Watermelon! (There was a Hershey bar, too, but that didn’t make it to the photo.)

There’s a great spread of books in this box and I’m hoping to read and report back on all of them. There are picture books: Mac Barnett and Carson Ellis’s newest collaboration, a retelling of Rumpelstiltkin; Rhea’s Rodeo, Laekan Zea Kemp and Raissa Figueroa’s gorgeous look at Mexican women’s rodeo; Mama Says I’m Fine, Brittney Cooper and Tanisha Anthony’s love letter to moms (their interview had me sniffling back tears: this book is just wonderful), and Chana Stiefel and Susan Gal’s Awe, which evokes that exact feeling with each turn of the page. 

Next, we have some graphic novels: Midsummer Sisters from Niki Smith; a moving story about the impact of divorce on stepsiblings who are as close as siblings and best friends, and Opting Out from Maia Kobabe and Lucky Srikumar, who bring us Saachi, a kid who is dealing with the usual friendship, sibling, and crush dilemmas, but also wants nothing to do with “blue-and-pink binaries”. This conversation was so good that I can’t wait to dive into these books… dare I bring them home this weekend and jump the TBR line?

Novels in verse are up next: Aida Salazar’s Stream, where two rising ninth graders meet after being sent to Mexico by their parents to unplug from the online world. If you’re thinking a sweet resort where they’re going to hang out by the pool all day, you’re wrong: they’re in locations without electricity or running water! Then we’ve got Perfect Enough by Meg Eden Kuyatt, a companion to Good Different (2023). Selah, the main character in Good Different, is back (still a dragon) and looking forward to spending her summer at writing camp… until she discovers that Ezra, her bully, is there too.

Finally, we have a YA novel that sounds outstanding: Goldenborn, by Ama Ofosua Lieb, which draws from Ghanian mythology to tell Akoma Ado’s story. She’s a teen investigating magical crime when she’s made an offer she can’t refuse by trickster god Anansi. It’s romantasy and I am here for it.

More goodies to come!