Bad Queer
'A poignant, thoughtful YA verse novel about navigating identity and the joys and pains of first love.' - The Guardian
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
A luminous and romantic debut verse-novel navigating first love as a non-binary teenager.
I feel invincible.
Like I could run and run
and never stop for breath.
I feel a power in me
I didn't know I had.
The power to speak,
to say what I need.
Surya knows exactly who they are. Coming out as non-binary to their queer parents and best friend? A total non-event. Catching feelings for Blessing - the boy in drama club whose smile makes their heart race? That's trickier.
As their final year of school unfolds and the two of them grow closer, Surya starts to question: Does Blessing really see them? Or just a version of them that doesn't exist? They'd ask their best friend for advice, but she's busy falling in love too. . .
With gorgeous illustrations throughout, Bad Queer draws us deeply into queer friendship, family secrets, and the necessary act of loving yourself. Perfect for fans of Alice Oseman, Dean Atta and Sarah Crossan.
This is a love letter to queer futures - tender, curious, and fiercely alive.
'Truthful, intimate and powerful!' Laura Dockrill
'Beautifully written verse novel about first love, acceptance and identity.' Abiola Bello
'Sensual, present and protective. I feel like I made a friend.' Steven Camden
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kamalakanthan debuts with a scintillating verse novel that chronicles a nonbinary transgender teen's journey toward publicly claiming their queer identity. Whenever they're misgendered, Sri Lankan British 17-year-old Surya freezes, fearful of correcting the misunderstanding ("I don't tell other people/ I'm not a girl/ It's easier—and harder this way"). Though Surya's cis female mum and genderfluid artist amma surround the teen with love at home, Surya longs to foster both platonic and romantic connections with others. When Surya joins an after-school theater program, they confront their fear of being perceived ("This one audition is a mini protest against all the times I've said nothing") and experience their first crush. The more involved Surya becomes with the theater group, the harder it becomes for them to suppress their true self, despite the troupe's sometimes transphobic rhetoric. Sedate pacing is paired with intense lines that often land with the force of a gut punch ("These words are dead bodies,/ eventually rising/ to the surface./ A rotting loudness"). Nwosu's captivating illustrations, peppered throughout, capture each instance of love and uncertainty in deceptively simple b&w line art. This poetic slice-of-life portrait is not to be missed. Ages 14–up.
