Something Like Gravity

Gr 8 Up—When Chris moves to small-town North Carolina to live with his aunt for the summer, he just wants to start over. After an assault that put him in the hospital for weeks, he has come out to his parents as transgender, and now he feels trapped by their fear and alienated as they fumble to understand his gender identity. Next door is Maia, whose family is consumed by grief after her older sister's sudden death. Unable to turn to her family for support, Maia obsessively sifts through her sister's thousands of photographs, trying to locate and re-create the shots with her camera in an attempt to better understand who she has lost. Chris and Maia's romance unfolds slowly, as they guard their most vulnerable secrets. Both trans readers and allies will be able to empathize with Chris's journey from tomboy to trans man, which is treated with grace as he explores the roles and messages that come along with one's assigned gender. It's beautiful to watch him be able to live fully in his new community as male. Maia's family's hurt and isolation from one another is palpable and a painful counterpoint to their close-knit community. Above all, this book is about the mistakes people make when they think they are alone in their grief. It's a beautiful story of first romantic love, but also the love between friends and family.