The Sky Blues
-
- £5.99
Publisher Description
Sky’s small town turns absolutely claustrophobic when his secret promposal plans get leaked to the entire school in this witty, “earnest, heartfelt” (Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author), and ultimately hopeful debut novel for fans of What if it’s Us? and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.
Sky Baker may be openly gay, but in his small, insular town, making sure he was invisible has always been easier than being himself. Determined not to let anything ruin his senior year, Sky decides to make a splash at his high school’s annual beach bum party by asking his crush, Ali, to prom—and he has thirty days to do it.
What better way to start living loud and proud than by pulling off the gayest promposal Rock Ledge, Michigan, has ever seen?
Then, Sky’s plans are leaked by an anonymous hacker in a deeply homophobic e-blast that quickly goes viral. He’s fully prepared to drop out and skip town altogether—until his classmates give him a reason to fight back by turning his thirty-day promposal countdown into a school-wide hunt to expose the e-blast perpetrator.
But what happens at the end of the thirty days? Will Sky get to keep his hard-won visibility? Or will his small-town blues stop him from being his true self?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Seventeen-year-old Sky, who's gay and white, tries to stay positive in Rock Ledge, Mich., but it's hard. He's spending his senior year living with his best friend Bree's wealthy family since he came out to his newly conservative Christian mother, who kicked him out; he's harassed at his largely white school over his sexuality; and he's madly in love with Iraqi American Ali Rashid, who's Muslim and "probably straight." He's still planning to prompose to Ali, but Sky feels hopeless after someone sends a photo of the wall where he and Bree keep his promposal ideas to the whole school, along with homophobic and racist slurs. Debut author Couch structures the book as a promposal countdown, building suspense and showing how Sky, with the help of his inclusive friend group and some supportive adults, learns about intersectionality and allyship, realizes he's braver than he thinks, and claps back to the bullies, improving school culture and finding his community along the way. Ages 12–up.