No One Left But You

August 15, 2023
After coming out as trans to the most popular boy in school and burning their budding relationship to the ground, Max wants nothing more than to disappear. The arrival of a mysterious new girl turns Max's life utterly inside out, however. Gloss is everything Max is not: rich, sophisticated, sure of herself and her place in the world. Yet she sees him for who he truly is, defends his identity, and forces others to acknowledge his truth. She is his salvation and destruction, and now she's in jail because of him. Max's small, predominantly white English town--the setting for this book that is part coming-of-age story and part murder mystery--is well realized. Max is a keen musician who expresses himself in the lyrics he writes; McAdam's masterfully musical language effectively brings this theme to the novel as a whole. There's a maturity and depth to the raw emotion and a hypersaturated intensity to the imagery. Max is a vulnerable, honest, engaging narrator, whose search for truths--his own, Gloss', and that of the fateful night his old life died--unfurls at an addictively relentless pace. His relationship with Gloss is painfully compelling, equal parts beautifully self-affirming and toxic. The inner lives of supporting characters are rich and muddled, reflecting the complexity of life. Poignant and intoxicating. (Fiction. 14-18)

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September 11, 2023
A bullied transgender teen gets caught up with a glamorous newcomer, resulting in fatal consequences, in this tense thriller by McAdam (Blood Sport). After 17-year-old Max Fraser came out as trans to his school’s popular golden boy Danny, their fledgling relationship imploded. Now, a year later, Danny viciously bullies Max, and alongside a lack of community at school, Max must contend with his unsupportive, alcohol-dependent mother while his affirming father is mostly absent working long hours at the fire station. Max’s life upends when new student Emily “Gloss” Devereux arrives in his small English town from London; not only does she immediately befriend him but Gloss steadfastly sticks up for him and bankrolls a self-esteem-boosting makeover that prompts classmates to welcome him back into the popular crowd. Max, who still pines for Danny, doesn’t understand Gloss’s interest in him: are they dating, or are they just friends? But things get complicated when Gloss icily rebuffs Max’s friendship at a party—and someone winds up dead. While the plot’s culmination feels rushed and unconvincing, McAdam persuasively delivers a sensitive portrait of one trans teenager’s experience navigating the roiling, uncertain emotions of adolescence amid a nail-biting murder mystery. Ages 14–up. Agent: Stacey Kondla, Rights Factory.

November 1, 2023

Gr 9 Up-Told in alternating "before" and "after" chapters, this gripping murder mystery follows Max, a transgender teenage boy, as he's sucked into the vortex of a toxic, immediately codependent new friendship with Gloss, a new girl in town. Gloss is a spoiled teenage girl with absent rich parents, an expensive, fully staffed home all to herself, and way too much freedom. But she has this magnetism about her that is almost cult leader-esque. She takes Max under her wing immediately, and begins to fulfill his deepest, long unmet needs: for belonging, physical touch and affection, attention, and emotional support. Then, she kills his ex-boyfriend and confesses. Or did she? McAdam's prose is masterly with perfect, striking phrases for feelings rarely adequately described. It feels euphoric reading such an authentic and natural portrayal of the lived experience of a trans teen. VERDICT While the mystery's resolution is a bit lackluster, Max's captivating journey is one that teen patrons shouldn't miss. Highly recommended.-Kayla Fontaine

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2023
Grades 10-12 Ever since Danny flipped out and broke things off when Max came out as trans, Max has had few people he can trust. Now it's his last semester of school, and Gloss moves to his small town outside London; when she takes Max under her wing, he starts to flourish. McAdam's U.S. debut is told in the befores and afters of Danny's death at Gloss' end-of-school party, with Max unable to remember what really happened after mixing alcohol, weed, pills, and his mental health medication. No One Left but You encapsulates the messiness of teenage lives and relationships, especially those of queer youth; Gloss lives in a penthouse straight out of an architecture magazine spread and has just as much personality herself, but the Gloss beneath the surface is just as messy as Max's beat-up car. Main characters are described as white. This book will reach readers looking for queer stories outside the realms of coming-out narratives or romances.

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