Between Perfect and Real

February 15, 2021
Being cast as Romeo in the school play helps Dean realize he's transgender. Now he needs to decide what to do about it. Dean lives in Seattle and has a loving girlfriend, Zoe, and a vivacious best friend, Ronnie. The three have big plans for college in New York City, but first they have one more year of high school. As a senior, Dean finally has a chance at a lead role, and, to his delight and astonishment, he'll get to play Romeo. As far as everyone knows, Dean is a tomboy lesbian, but he comes to realize that he's actually a transgender boy. The plot is arranged into five roughly Shakespearean acts, following Dean's process of self-realization, coming out, facing transphobic bullying, and redefining his relationship with Zoe. The characters ponder a variety of queer-related topics, such as the intersection of race and sexuality (Ronnie is Black and gay; Dean and Zoe are White), toxic masculinity, and the transition of a romantic partner. In a rare and refreshing move, the author altogether avoids revealing Dean's given name--Dean is a shortened version Ronnie came up with years earlier--and does not narratively humiliate or exploit him. Not settling for pat, one-dimensional explanations, the story is honest about the uncertainty, self-consciousness, confusion, and fear that can accompany transition while being validating and supportive of its trans protagonist. An authentic and optimistic trans coming-out story. (Fiction. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 7, 2021

Gr 7 Up-When Dean is unexpectedly cast as Romeo in the high school play, he realizes that he's a trans man. The plot follows the five-act structure of Romeo and Juliet as Dean goes through the process of finding himself and coming out all over again during rehearsals and performances for the play. Throughout the story, Dean's friends, girlfriend, and drama teacher affirm his identity, with some challenges, while Dean's parents struggle more with the news. While Dean is bullied by one classmate and has a fight with his mom, by and large the adults and teens in his life range from moderately to extremely supportive, and while no one else in Dean's life or school is trans, he is able to find a trans community in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Dean's process of figuring out his identity and his love of acting will be relatable to many teens, and Stoeve does not shy away from the nuances of navigating life after coming out. Dean and his family are identified as white, while his friends have a variety of racial identities. VERDICT A coming-out story with a nod to Romeo and Juliet. Recommended for purchase.-Kelsey Socha, Westfield Athenaeum, Westfield, MA

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2021
Until senior year, seventeen-year-old Dean had identified as a "tomboy lesbian" but now increasingly identifies as a guy. When a forward-looking theater teacher casts him as Romeo in a production of Romeo and Juliet, Dean, who finally feels like himself in the role, comes out as transgender. Each new step -- changing his pronouns, getting a chest binder -- makes him feel more comfortable in his body, as does acceptance by his best friend and the new friends he makes in a support group. But his relationship with his girlfriend deteriorates (she's a lesbian who, understandably, struggles with Dean's transition: "I don't want to be some guy's girlfriend"), and he worries about how his parents will react. Dean authentically and accessibly describes his experience as a trans man; his body, for example, "literally doesn't fit me. Like it's a piece of clothing that shrank in the dryer. It's not terrible most of the time, but it's weird." Dean's story demonstrates the courage that it takes to come out: he faces loneliness, a breakup, and bullying, and knows that it could be even worse (the film Boys Don't Cry helped Dean understand that he was trans). But by year's end, he sees freedom and possibility in life after high school: "I'm closer to being myself than I ever have been...I wouldn't trade who I am for anything." Rachel L. Smith

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from March 1, 2021
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Dean has known for a while that he's a trans guy, but he's not out--not to his friends; his girlfriend, Zoe; or his parents, and certainly not to his castmates in the school production of Romeo and Juliet, in which he was recently cast as Romeo. Everyone thinks Dean's a lesbian, and he's intent on keeping it that way until he can get into NYU and escape with Zoe to New York City. But as he gets deeper into his role of Romeo, he realizes that finally being able to perform on stage as a guy might be just what he needs to gain the courage to come out. In this dazzling debut, Stoeve paints an empathetic picture of a coming-out experience populated with lovable, flawed supporting characters. Difficult, raw moments between Dean and his parents--who didn't react well when he told them he was a lesbian--and between Dean and Zoe are offset by his relationships with a diverse found family of compassionate LGBTQ+ friends who support and accept him, a rare gem in young adult literature. Dean's story is tender, emotional, honest, and unafraid to face both the pain and joy of coming out. Through Dean's authentic and hopeful voice, Stoeve expertly crafts a powerful exploration of who we can become when we have the courage to choose our own paths.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2021
Until senior year, seventeen-year-old Dean had identified as a "tomboy lesbian" but now increasingly identifies as a guy. When a forward-looking theater teacher casts him as Romeo in a production of Romeo and Juliet, Dean, who finally feels like himself in the role, comes out as transgender. Each new step -- changing his pronouns, getting a chest binder -- makes him feel more comfortable in his body, as does acceptance by his best friend and the new friends he makes in a support group. But his relationship with his girlfriend deteriorates (she's a lesbian who, understandably, struggles with Dean's transition: "I don't want to be some guy's girlfriend"), and he worries about how his parents will react. Dean authentically and accessibly describes his experience as a trans man; his body, for example, "literally doesn't fit me. Like it's a piece of clothing that shrank in the dryer. It's not terrible most of the time, but it's weird." Dean's story demonstrates the courage that it takes to come out: he faces loneliness, a breakup, and bullying, and knows that it could be even worse (the film Boys Don't Cry helped Dean understand that he was trans). But by year's end, he sees freedom and possibility in life after high school: "I'm closer to being myself than I ever have been...I wouldn't trade who I am for anything."

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)