I Wish You All the Best, written by Mason Deaver, reviewed by Bethany Bratney

Summary: This beautiful #OwnVoices story finds Ben dealing with the internal struggle of preparing to come out as nonbinary to their parents. Ben’s quiet hope that their parents will accept them is quickly dashed when they are immediately kicked out of the house and forced to call upon their much older sister, Hannah, who they have not seen or spoken to in 10 years. Ben begins a tenuous relationship with Hannah, and her husband, Thomas, who Ben has never met. They are quickly enrolled in a new school to finish their senior year and are lightly coerced into therapy by Hannah, who also left their parents home under unpleasant circumstances. Ben begins to find some solace in the school’s art program and in the healing and self-acceptance that their new life fosters. They also are almost aggressively befriended by Nathan, who is assigned to be Ben’s school buddy, and who refuses to let Ben quietly disappear into the noise of their busy high school. Though Ben is immediately honest about their identity with Hannah, Thomas and their therapist, they decide to remain quiet about it at school, creating a secret that lives between Ben and Nathan. The tension of this secret mounts throughout the novel as Ben slowly succumbs to Nathan’s irresistible charm and positivity, developing a crush in spite of the uncertainty of reciprocation. 

Straight Talk for Librarians: Ben’s character-driven, coming out story is both simple and complex, making it an excellent and accessible text for a MS/HS library. Though the range of emotions and the events that drive them are incredibly intense, Ben’s story features few controversial or inappropriate scenes (some teen drinking that ends in regret, same-sex kissing and romance), making it available to readers much younger than Ben. Though a few of the more minor side characters aren’t explored to great depth, more significant supporting characters are extremely well-drawn. Perhaps the most honest and nuanced relationship is the one between Ben and Hannah, who are necessarily important to one another but bring much baggage and prior trauma to the relationship. Ben’s best, and seemingly only friend outside of school is Mariam, a nonbinary YouTube artist and public speaker who has become close with Ben online. Nathan is a truly lovely character that readers will champion as both Ben’s friend and love interest. The will they/won’t they romance between Ben and Nathan helps to balance the intensity of Ben’s complicated feelings about their identity and their relationship with their parents. Though the body of YA literature featuring authentic voices of queer characters is growing, there is still not nearly enough featuring nonbinary characters, which make this book an important part of any middle school or high school collection.