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In the Key of Dale Paperback – November 1, 2022

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 5 ratings

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Sixteen-year-old Dale Cardigan is a loner who’s managed to make himself completely invisible at his all-boys high school. He doesn’t fit with his classmates (whom he gives nicknames in his head), his stepbrother (whom nobody at school knows he’s related to), or even his mother (who never quite sees how gifted a musician Dale might be)—but they don’t fit with him, either. And he’s fine with that. To him, high school and home are stages to endure until his real life can finally begin.

 Somewhat against his will, he befriends his classmate Rusty, who gets a rare look at Dale’s complex life outside school, but their friendship is made awkward when Dale is uncertain whether his growing attraction to Rusty is one-sided. Still, it’s to Rusty that Dale turns when he stumbles upon a family secret that shakes everything he thought he knew.

An epistolary novel written in the form of letters to his late father, In the Key of Dale is a beguiling, pitch-perfect book about growing up, fitting in, and finding a way out of grief and loneliness toward the melodic light of adulthood.

Ages 14 and up.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

In the Key of Dale is pitch perfect. I fell in love with Dale Cardigan, and I couldn't stop turning the pages. Full of complex characters and relationships, this is a debut novel with great heart. Read it! -Bill Konigsberg, award-winning author of The Music of What Happens



Dale Cardigan is an unforgettable teenager who is unapologetically true to himself. I want to adopt Dale as my fictional nephew and invite him and his friend Rusty over for dinner. Benjamin Lefebvre writes about grief, sexuality, and family with wit and wordplay. Dale is going through all the awful, wonderful, huge feelings that come with being alive, and reading In the Key of Dale, I went through all those emotions with him. Lefebvre has written a moving celebration of teenage friendship, sex, and creative life. -Susie Taylor, author of Even Weirder Than Before



Lefebvre delivers a fresh, poignant, and deeply intimate narrative for the modern reader. Dale Cardigan may be a teenager, but his search for meaning in love and music is a reminder to all of us that finding your own melody is magic. -Vanessa Brown, author of The Forest City Killer: A Serial Killer, a Cold-Case Sleuth, and a Search for Justice



In the Key of Dale is an ode to queer teens - and artists! - who boldly found ways to stay true to themselves while also coping in places that weren't always supportive. Told with humour and compassion, Benjamin Lefebvre's epistolary grief narrative will have readers both laughing and crying - sometimes at the same time. -Melanie J. Fishbane, author of Maud: A Novel Inspired by the Life of L.M. Montgomery



By turns snarkily funny and wrenchingly poignant, Benjamin Lefebvre's debut novel is a pitch-perfect paean to the geeks, loners and musical prodigies you knew - or were - in high school. As a geek/loner/former music 'prodigy' myself, I can tell you that In the Key of Dale contains not a single false note. A revelatory delight from beginning to end. -C.E. Gatchalian, author of Double Melancholy: Art, Beauty, and the Making of a Brown Queer Man



Benjamin Lefebvre's debut YA novel offers all the pleasures of a breezy, gay, will-they-won't-they high school romance while also tackling weightier themes. The result is a portrait that is surprisingly fresh yet will resonate strongly with readers' own experiences of navigating the fraught world of adults before attaining the benefits of adult autonomy ... Complex, thoughtful, and compelling: In the Key of Dale is sure to strike a chord. -Quill and Quire



Lefebvre writes about grief, sexuality, and family with great success ... Highly recommended. -CM: Canadian Review of Materials

About the Author

Benjamin Lefebvre is the editor of several books, including The L.M. Montgomery Reader, a three-volume critical anthology that won the 2016 PROSE Award for Literature from the Association of American Publishers, and an edition of Montgomery’s rediscovered final book, The Blythes Are Quoted. In the Key of Dale is his first novel.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Arsenal Pulp Press (November 1, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1551529033
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1551529035
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 - 17 years
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 7 - 9
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 5 ratings

About the author

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Benjamin Lefebvre
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Benjamin Lefebvre is the author of the novel In the Key of Dale (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022). His edited books include The L.M. Montgomery Reader, Volume 1: A Life in Print (UTP, 2013), Volume 2: A Critical Heritage (UTP, 2014), and Volume 3: A Legacy in Review (UTP, 2015), all of which were reissued in paperback in 2020, and an edition of L.M. Montgomery's rediscovered final book, The Blythes Are Quoted (Penguin Canada, 2009), which has since appeared in Polish, Finnish, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, and Italian and which was republished as part of Penguin Canada Modern Classics in 2018. He also prepared and introduced the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of Anne of Green Gables (2017).

He is also editor of The L.M. Montgomery Library, a series of books that collect Montgomery's extensive publications in the areas of short fiction, poetry, and miscellaneous pieces. A Name for Herself: Selected Writings, 1891–1917 and A World of Songs: Selected Poems, 1894–1921, and Twice upon a Time: Selected Stories, 1898–1939 are already available, and several more volumes are in progress.

He lives in Kitchener, Ontario, and can be found online at https://benjaminlefebvre.com.

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4.5 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2022
    This is a beautifully written book. I was taken with Dale from the very beginning and was committed to taking his journey with him. Dale is intelligent, perceptive, and funny - subsequently, so is the book. It is easy to understand and empathize with Dale's struggle, and I read the book in virtually one sitting.

Top reviews from other countries

  • Dave
    5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, Emotional and Beautifully Written!
    Reviewed in Canada on December 20, 2022
    I loved this book so much! It made me literally laugh out loud. Amazingly funny, yet emotional and relatable, Lefebvre's debut novel was easily the best book I've read this year. Although it's classified as 'young adult', people of all ages will enjoy this book. I cannot wait for whatever he puts out next!