Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

Felix Ever After

Kacen Callender

HarperCollins · Paperback · April 20, 2021

A Stonewall Honor Book * A Time Magazine Best YA Book of All Time From Stonewall and Lambda Award–winning author Kacen Callender comes a revelatory YA novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time.

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Who it’s for
A layered YA story pairs first-love uncertainty with a searching exploration of identity and self-worth.
Themes
Identity and self-discovery, First love, Transphobia and marginalization
Genres
YA Transgender, YA Romance - LGBTQ+, Coming of Age

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For younger readers: Felix Yz

For older readers: The Next Chapter, Book Boyfriend

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About this book

A Stonewall Honor Book * A Time Magazine Best YA Book of All Time From Stonewall and Lambda Award–winning author Kacen Callender comes a revelatory YA novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time. Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone.

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What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after. When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages—after publicly posting Felix’s deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned—Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn’t count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi–love triangle.... But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself. Felix Ever After is an honest and layered story about identity, falling in love, and recognizing the love you deserve. "Felix is attending an ultracompetitive arts summer program to have a better shot at a full scholarship to Brown when someone posts Felix’s dead name beside photos of him, pre-transition, in the school’s lobby. Felix’s plot to get revenge throws him onto the path of love and self-discovery." (Publishers Weekly, "An Anti-Racist Children's and YA Reading List")

Love, Uncomplicated

A layered YA story pairs first-love uncertainty with a searching exploration of identity and self-worth.

Come here for

  • Romance tangled up with questions of identity
  • A Black, queer, transgender teen finding his footing

Expect

  • Honest, complicated feelings rather than easy answers
  • Self-discovery alongside the pull of first love

Where it sits

YA Transgender89%
YA Romance - LGBTQ+73%
Coming of Age31%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • YA Art & Artists
  • Coming of Age
  • YA Stories About Girls & Women
  • YA LGBTQ+
Show all 8 publisher categories
  • Contemporary YA Romance
  • YA Romance - LGBTQ+
  • School Stories for Teens
  • Bullying for Teens
Authors
Kacen Callender
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
April 20, 2021
Format
Paperback
Theme
Identity and self-discovery · First love · Transphobia and marginalization
Reading lane
YA Art & Artists