I Wish You All the Best--"Labels can help people find common ground, can help them connect, with themselves and other people."

Title: I Wish You All the Best

Author: Mason Deaver


LGBTQ+ Representation: Main character is nonbinary. Another is bisexual.


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): When Ben comes out as nonbinary to their parents, they (Ben) are kicked out of the house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband. Ben keeps their gender identity (and anxiety disorder) a secret from the kids at their new school and finds solace in art class. Then, Ben becomes close friends with Nathan. Could their friendship turn into something more? Will Nathan accept Ben as nonbinary?


What I think (in 250 words or fewer): Ben's parents' reaction to their child's coming-out is sad, but not uncommon: nonbinary people are often misunderstood even within the LGBTQ+ community.


The beginning of this story is difficult to read, but after moving in with Hannah, Ben adjusts well to life in Raleigh. Ben makes good friends at their new school and forms a bond with their art teacher.

 And Nathan? What a sweetheart; I love how well he understands Ben. Their  relationship is a very slow burn but is realistic.

Ben also lives with an anxiety disorder, and I can 100% relate to the way they react to the high school party because that was IS me at parties and other loud, unstructured social situations.

I'm glad that Ben's sister Hannah supports and takes in Ben (and am especially impressed that getting them a counselor is one of the first things she does), but as I was reading, I began to wonder: where had she been for the past ten years since she left the family? Why didn't she help Ben before now?

Then, (as if the author were reading my mind!) several events in the book occur, and that's all I can say without spoilers.

I thought there might be an unhappy ending, but then . . . romance!  Also, Ben ends up getting a dream job/opportunity that will certainly help them financially while taking their gap year after high school. If only something like that could happen to me. Internet, I'm ready to be discovered. 😉


This book is too new to be on a Rainbow Book List. Watch this space!


My final takeaway (in 75 words or fewer): Nonbinary characters are the final frontier in LGBTQ+ YA! Okay, not the final frontier, but they'e not super common, so Ben's story is notable in this respect. I thought that this book would be more of a love story, but  it's more of a coming-of-age story instead of a romance. The ending is hopeful and made me smile. I also liked how the story takes place in Raleigh, about ninety minutes from where I live.


Memorable quotes/passages from the book:

• "One time we spent the entire day arguing back and forth against the need to gender robots in Star Wars" (pg. 99).
    
• "'I mean, I'm not the head of the nonbinary committee or anything.'
  Hannah huffs. 'Well, I know that.'
  'We're not a committee anyway. More of a cult'" (pg. 176).
    
• "'Seriously, with all this stuff sort of evolving--sexualities and identities, the binary stuff being challenged more and more--don't you feel like labels are kind of pointless?'
  'Not really. Labels can help people find common ground, can help them connect, with themselves and other people'" (pg. 178).
    
• "Is 'my kissing friend who isn't on the gender binary but whom I love very much' a little too wordy?" (pg. 318).

Other reviews: NPR and Andy Winder--YA Writer


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This book is available here: https://library.greensboro-nc.gov/

Learn more about the Rainbow Book List here: http://www.ala.org/rt/glbtrt