Felix Ever After

I listened to this book never knowing what would come next. The life of a college student finding themselves hit home to me. I’ve searched for who I was for years and could identify with Felix in that way. I felt as if I was on a roller coaster, the emotions with such highs and lows that quickly made me root for Felix.

I may have to buy a physical copy so I can highlight some of the passages that spoke to me. In short, this book is about love. Finding love, sharing love, and loving oneself. I know at… show more.

All teens are trying to figure themselves out, but kids who don’t feel comfortable in the cis/hetero mold have an even tougher time.

Felix is struggling and starts to doubt some of the things he has believed about himself, and it’s terrifying. Add to that some confusion about some of his relationships, and you have a cocktail of challenges.

I could so relate to Felix and know that my own fictional characters would, too.

This book received some impressive and well-earned accolades for painting such an authentic portrayal of a trans teen finding himself and his place amongst his peers,… show more.

I was lucky enough to go on a Pride book tour with Kacen Callender before Felix Ever After was published.

Kacen is one of the essential voices in literature for young people, and Felix is a shining example of why. It’s at once wildly entertaining, funny, heartfelt, enraging. It captures the complex universal emotions of coming-of-age while telling a deeply specific story of one trans teen.

I wish this book would find its way into the hands of anyone who is leaning into fear instead of curiosity and empathy. 

This YA follows Felix Love, a Black, queer, and trans teen, navigating his identity, discovering himself, and falling in love for the first time. YA is such a wonderful space for stories like this, that tackle a difficult time in life whilst expressing the compounding issues of intersectional identities and difficult life circumstances. Complex, emotive, honest, and compelling, this story and others like it shine a light for youth today and can be incredibly valuable for older readers to feed their inner teens and heal some of that trauma from being forced to conform and a lack of stories like… show more.

I love how real this book is. Felix makes big, messy mistakes—the kind most authors are reluctant to write for fear that readers will find their character unlikable. But the truism about how we learn the biggest lessons from the biggest screw-ups is brilliantly illustrated here. This is why we read books: They teach life lessons by example so we don’t have to learn them the hard way ourselves. The trans boy rep is spot-on, and I adored how Felix’s complicated relationship with multiple identities is presented with depth, sensitivity, grace, and good humor. A gorgeous, thought-provoking, and inspiring YA… show more.

This YA book is a vibrant look into the lives of queer art students living in New York City, full of heart and lived-in experience. Felix’s search for love and community is relatable but unique, and I love how Callender honestly and gracefully illustrates how fluid gender identity can be. Extra points for centering queer BIPOC characters.

I went to college for art while trying to figure out my future, so I fell hard for the story of Felix, a Black and trans teen who is subjected to harassment, finds potential romance, and wrestles with whether he’s the artist he thinks he is. His relationship with his dad is complicated and heartfelt, and you’ll feel compassion all the way.

Of the five books on this list, this is the one that’s definitely in the Young Adult category rather than Middle Grade, but I wanted to include one of Kacen’s excellent creations. This is another book that, with its Black queer trans protagonist, does a fantastic job of exploring the complexities of intersectionality. The story is messy and emotional and real. Callender is a rising star of queer fiction for young readers.