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by Dean Atta
In this emotional novel in verse by the Stonewall Award–winning author of The Black Flamingo, a queer biracial teen confronts issues of race, privilege, class, and sexuality on his journey to falling in love.
Kai knows who he is to others: The good grandson, the reliable best friend, the romantic backup. But he doesn't quite know who he is to himself.
Kai wants to come out at school, but his best friend there, Matt, stays closeted for fear of getting kicked out by his conservative parents—and wants Kai to do the same. Kai unhappily agrees, but when a rumor goes around that Kai and Matt are dating, Matt starts acting differently anyway.
Kai's other best friend, Vass, is proudly nonbinary and thinks Matt is a negative influence—though maybe that's just their crush on Kai talking. Kai has always turned to writing to express his emotions, but when his on-page emotions erupt into the real world, he might just be putting the delicate balance of his life at risk.
Told with Dean Atta's signature lyricism and candor, this deeply feeling story explores the complexities of crushes, navigating identity, and coming out.
"An emotional novel in verse that reads like an actual teen's diary." —Kirkus Reviews
This information about I Can't Even Think Straight was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Dean Atta's poems deal with themes of race, gender, and identity. He regularly performs across the UK and internationally, and his work has been shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize and has appeared on MTV and BET. The Black Flamingo, his debut YA novel, won the Stonewall Award. He is also the author of Only on the Weekends. You can find him online at deanatta.com.
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Censorship, like charity, should begin at home: but unlike charity, it should end there.
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