Odd One Out by Nic Stone
Published by Crown Books for Young Readers on October 9th 2018
ISBN: 1101939532
Pages: 320
Goodreads

Relationships can be messy, and Odd One Out by Nic Stone sets out to show us just how messy they can get.  Coop is in love with his best friend, Jupiter, but she’s not interested; they have a brother/sister relationship, she’s a lesbian, and it’s just not in the cards for Coop.  Then comes Rae, a new girl in town, who’s not sure whether she’s more interested in Coop or Jupiter, but both give her that butterfly feeling.  The story alternates between the perspectives of these three characters as they navigate coming of age.

Teen readers will probably appreciate the complicated love triangle and the self-discovery motifs running throughout all three characters’ perspectives.  Some readers might be offended by the ways the characters handle the complexity of learning to understand their sexuality, and other readers might be offended by the legality of age differences of characters who become sexually active.

 

Reviewed by Noelle Gallant, Saco Middle School