Opting Out

From the award-winning author/illustrator of GENDER QUEER and a bright new talent, the story of a kid named Saachi, who is navigating friendship woes, sister issues, a new crush, and a resistance to blue-and-pink binaries.

Bodies are the worst. I wish I didn't have a body.

Saachi is a storyteller. At school, she's surrounded by kids she's known forever -- including her best friend, Lyla, who shares Saachi's love of fantasy novels and creating new worlds.

But as seventh grade starts, kids are changing. Suddenly, it matters who you like and if you can find a boyfriend or girlfriend. Even Lyla seems more interested in hanging out with her new boyfriend than in writing and drawing with Saachi anymore. Saachi's not interested in any of that boy/girl stuff. Why can't things just stay the way they were?

Saachi also doesn't love all the ways her body is changing. What if she doesn't feel like a girl -- or like a boy, either? In a world where there is so much either/or, Saachi is going to need to find her own options . . . and create her own story.

MAIA KOBABE is an author and illustrator from the Bay Area, California. This is eir first book for middle-grade readers. E is also the author of two books for young adults. Gender Queer: A Memoir won a Stonewall Honor and an Alex Award from the American Library Association in 2020 and was also the most challenged book in the US in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Breathe: Journeys to Healthy Binding was created with Dr. Sarah Peitzmeier. When not drawing or writing, Maia is usually listening to K-pop music, practicing Taekwondo, studying Spanish, or picking up books from the library.

SWATI "LUCKY" SRIKUMAR was raised as a third-culture kid born in Singapore to Indian immigrant parents. At age nineteen, they moved to California, where they've resided ever since. They draw comics about the ever-changing aspects of their identity, including queerness, race, disability, and cat ownership. They love to build community and find common ground with all kinds of people through humor and art. They enjoy knitting, bird-watching, and puns. Opting Out is their first book.