The Passing Playbook

A feel-good contemporary young adult romance about a trans athlete who must decide between fighting for his right to play as himself or staying stealth.

“Sharply observant and vividly drawn . . . I loved every minute I spent in this story, and I’ve never rooted harder for a jock in my life.”—Becky Albertalli New York Times bestselling author of Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda

“A gentle and wholesome depiction of the struggles of passing to fit in.”—The Nerd Daily

Spencer Harris is a proud nerd, an awesome big brother, and a verifiable David Beckham in training. (Well, if David Beckham were five foot two and Black.) He’s also about to start tenth grade at a new high school, the most liberal one in Ohio, where he can safely be out as queer but where no one will know he’s trans.

At first, life at Oakley is almost too good to be true. Spencer has more accepting classmates, a decent shot at a starting position on the boys’ soccer team, great new friends, and maybe even something more than friendship with one of his teammates.

But staying stealth comes at a cost when a discriminatory law forces Spencer to choose between spending the season on the bench or publicly fighting for his right to play, even though it would mean coming out to everyone—including the guy he’s falling for.

Isaac Fitzsimons is a lifetime dabbler in the arts. His background includes performing sketch comedy in college, learning how to play three songs on the banjo, and, of course, writing. He currently lives outside Washington, DC, and does research for an arts advocacy nonprofit in the city.