ARC Review: The Passing Playbook

So you’re looking for an ownvoices trans m/m book by a Black author? Boy, do we have a treat for you! And listen, even more importantly The Passing Playbook is one of the most joyful & loving young adult books we know of – loving in a way that it lets the LGBT teens know they’re loved and valued.

Read on to see more reasons why you absolutely should order yourself a copy, too! And we even have a music mix to listen to while reading!

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Fifteen-year-old Spencer Harris is a proud nerd, an awesome big brother and a Messi-in-training. He’s also transgender. After transitioning at his old school leads to a year of bullying, Spencer gets a fresh start at Oakley, the most liberal private school in Ohio.

At Oakley, Spencer seems to have it all: more accepting classmates, a decent shot at a starting position on the boy’s soccer team, great new friends, and maybe even something more than friendship with one of his teammates. The problem is, no one at Oakley knows Spencer is trans – he’s passing.

So when a discriminatory law forces Spencer’s coach to bench him after he discovers the ‘F’ on Spencer’s birth certificate, Spencer has to make a choice: cheer his team on from the sidelines or publicly fight for his right to play, even if it means coming out to everyone – including the guy he’s falling for.

The Passing Playbook

Isaac Fitzsimons

Goodreads

Rep: biracial Black mlm trans mc, gay li, bi side character, nonbinary side character
CWs: mentions of past transphobic violence, religious homophobia
Release: 3rd June 2021

Reading The Passing Playbook is like injecting yourself with a shot of serotonin. It’s a book full of love and joy and just a book that’ll make you grin uncontrollably while you’re reading it. Pretty much perfect, in other words.

Probably what I loved most about this book was the following quote:

“I think that the more people who are out and visible, the safer it is for everyone. BUT, and this is a big but, you need to make sure that you’re safe first. Physically safe, yes but also emotionally and psychologically.”

I’ll never tire of books that have this kind of attitude to coming out. The part about putting your own safety above all else, especially. I’ve read too many books that seem to consider it as something you have to do, or as if someone who doesn’t come out is inherently cowardly, or even worse, having other LGBT characters not be understanding if someone doesn’t come out. I can’t count the number of times that I’ve been let down by books that do that, so having a book that explicitly takes the stance that you ensure your safety first? Feels more revolutionary than it should, really.

I also love that this book centres on a found family of a sports team — if you liked that aspect of Running with Lions, say, you’ll love this book too. And that no one on the team was an intolerant bigot (although it’s entirely possible my memory is serving me badly here, I will admit). I feel like I’ve read a lot of books where it’s like…everyone but one. And, okay, realism, but do you think I read for realism half of the time? I love LGBT books that just go, okay let’s ditch any homophobia or transphobia (although granted the latter was discussed in this, in the context of the competition’s transphobia). I mean, don’t we all want to live in a world where neither of those things are prevalent?

So when I say that this book is like a shot of serotonin, or like a big warm hug, it’s because of these things. It’s those aspects of a book that you know you’ll get when it’s ownvoices. That feeling that you can trust in the author telling this particular story (not to say you can’t trust when it’s not ownvoices, or an LGBT author, but it’s more fraught). And that’s the overall sensation I had with The Passing Playbook.

Basically, if you hadn’t thought to pick this up before now, I’m here to say, please love yourself and read it.

So, have I convinced you that you want to read this book?