Read me like a book

March 21, 2016
British teenager Ash Walker is meandering through life. She isn’t terribly interested in school, hasn’t applied to
college, has a boyfriend she’s not excited about, and is watching her parents’ marriage collapse. Then a young, passionate teacher takes over Ash’s English class and makes her brain and heart come alive. Not only does Miss Murray see Ash’s hidden smarts, she also turns out to be gay, which helps Ash begin to realize that she is, too. Kessler (the Emily Windsnap series) wrote this novel, her first for teens, more than a decade ago and shelved it, in part because of a British law that forbid the promotion of homosexuality in schools. With the passage of time, the most eye-raising aspect is that in Miss Murray’s efforts to mentor Ash, she inadvertently encourages her crush. While the coming-out story line may be familiar, the idea that you have to know who you are in order to figure out where you want to go is a powerful one for readers examining their own identities. Ages 14–up. Agent: Catherine Clarke, Felicity Bryan Associates.