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crufts's review against another edition
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
When I started reading this book about a trans teenager, I expected the worst. Years of exposure to derogatory, misinformed and damaging trans representation has left me extremely suspicious of any media that supposedly includes a trans character. But The Passing Playbook left me pleasantly surprised!
Our protagonist Spencer Harris is a teenage boy who recently moved schools after being physically threatened for being trans. Concerned for his safety, his parents have gone to the trouble of moving house in order to qualify for Oakley, the most progressive school in rural Wayne County, Ohio. The school even has a "QSA" (Queer-Straight Alliance) club, which would be unimaginable at other schools in the county.
The school may be a progressive dream, but before long Spencer finds himself with two challenges. Firstly, he secretly joins the Oakley boys' soccer team - something his parents would vehemently disapprove of if they knew, due to their fears for his safety. Secondly, he develops a massive crush on soccer teammate Justice Cortes. Oh boy - and moving schools was meant to make everything simpler!
Overall I enjoyed The Passing Playbook (and enjoyed the title pun). It wasn't perfect, but there were no dealbreaking flaws. Actually, the novel got a lot of things right:
- Accurate medical details regarding Spencer's transition. The descriptions of puberty blockers and testosterone HRT were all spot-on. I also liked thatSpencer didn't have (or need) top surgery due to his early medical transition. Depicting trans men with top surgery scars has become a media cliche, even though many don't have them, so this was refreshingly different .
- Probably the best depiction of an autistic child I've ever seen in a book. Spencer's 8-year-old brother Theo Harris is autistic - a fact I discovered with some trepidation, considering how badly other media handles this. But Theo ended up as one of the best characters in the book. He actually reminded me of IRL autistic friends of mine, although of course like an 8-year-old version of them. This gave me the impression that the author either has first-hand experience or was very thorough with his research.
- Also a superb portrayal of a non-binary person. Riley, a non-binary student at the school, is introduced in such a way that their assigned sex is never mentioned or even hinted at. This contrasts with portrayals of non-binary people in other media which miss the point with "Oh, but are you a male non-binary or a female non-binary?". With the focus firmly placed on who they really are, not what they were born as, Riley's portrayal was a breath of fresh air.
(That's not to say that a non-binary character's assigned sex should never be mentioned in a novel, I just found this really refreshing.)
- And there's a similar nice Bi The Way moment with a minor character.
- Gripping plot with interesting challenges and dilemmas. Spencer's situation has serious stakes behind it (i.e., his physical safety and risk of being ostracized), so I was compelled to see how his story would turn out. The story also hits a number of interesting beats and tense scenes with plenty of conflict.
Now, were there any flaws? Sure - but I'm happy to say that these were (a) relatively minor, and (b) nothing to do with the book's representation of minorities.
- The pacing was fast, as driven by the author's clean, concise writing style. And that's meant to be a good thing, right? Well, sure - but the pacing was also fast during climactic scenes that could have been dramatically slowed to increase tension.
- This felt like a waste, as it seemed that the novel's scenes weren't pushed to their full potential. Spencer would take some risk, and then would receive the reward so soon afterwards that it minimized how much of a risk he'd taken. The lack of negative results to some of these risks also diminished how serious the risks were, e.g.when Spencer comes out to Justice and his soccer team, there's not a single twinge of doubt or hesitation in any of their responses. It was too good to believe. I think it would better show what a risk Spencer took if (for example) one of the soccer team boys is about to say something idiotic in response but a fellow teammate tells him off . Another example is when Spencer reads the list of names for the Transgender Day of Remembrance under a rainy sky, but then suddenly: As the last name left his lips, the rain stopped, the sky cleared, and all was calm. - Way too quick to be believable .
- There was one instance where the novel does it well, though, which wasthe climactic scene with Spencer's television interview . I felt this scene drew out the tension nicely. And it had an outcome that was positive, but with realistic imperfections and flaws.
- Relatedly, the ending rushed in very abruptly, leaving a number of plot threads untied.
- Spencer and Justice had particular character flaws that pushed them to the edge of likeability. Justice ran so hot-and-cold that I was constantly getting whiplash, and found it hard to believe that Spencer was still holding a flame for this guy. Meanwhile, Spencer just couldn't understand that Justice, a teenage boy with no financial or social resources, couldn't possibly be expected tostand against his bigoted family .
- I also thought it wasn't too smart of Spencer, whose medical transition and enrolment at a progressive school was due to massive effort from his parents, to throw a tantrum at them because they didn't manage to read his mind and know that he wanted them to tell himthat his Ohio birth certificate couldn't be amended . But to be fair, I could also believe that this kind of detail might bother a sensitive, moody teenager.
- The narration of Spencer's reactions to Justice touching him on the arm/shoulder/hand/etc was initially intriguing since it introduced the plot point of the crush. Shivers and goosebumps, oh my! But then it kept repeating... and repeating... and repeating... until I was bored. Honestly, mentioning this two or three times is enough.
- Relatedly, I felt there was a missed opportunity of discussing Spencer's feelings about being trans and gay. Being gay is a huge issue forJustice , yet for Spencer it doesn't even warrant a passing (ha) comment. He literally never even describes himself as "gay".
- This is subjective, but I found it weird how American the book is. I mean, I've read a lot of books by American authors. They've written some of the best English-language books in existence! (Like The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, Fahrenheit 451, Slaughterhouse-Five, Catch-22, The Color Purple, To Kill a Mockingbird, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Death of a Salesman, The Outsiders, and many more.) But this is the first time I've remarked to myself "Wow! This is just so... so... American!"
- Like the specific capitalization of "Black" but not "white" when referring to race.
- Or how Spencer was so quick assume racist intentions from his teachers (e.g.Spencer was glad that she [the teacher] didn't pick on him. Unlike his white teachers, she didn't expect him to be the Black voice in the classroom, as if he could speak for an entire race. - Uh, what? None of the teachers are ever shown asking Spencer to "speak for an entire race". What the heck? ). I think this is due to the higher level of racial tension in the United States.
- Or how Spencer called his dad a "blerd" ("black nerd"), again with the odd emphasis on race.
- Or how weirdly petty Spencer was over social justice topics (e.g.Spencer had been nodding in agreement at what Riley said, but stopped [when Grayson said the bathroom project would look good on a college application]. ... His right to pee safely should trump cis people trying to impress colleges. - I mean, why couldn't you have both? Who cares if Grayson gets a second benefit from the project? For that matter, why do you assume he's cis? ).
- Or the sudden use of unexplained jargon dropped into the narration (e.g. "cisnormativity"). This came off as stilted in comparison to the simpler language in the rest of the novel.
- Or how Spencer asked Justice "You do believe in evolution, right?" It's the kind of question you wouldn't even need to ask in many countries.
- Again, this point is very subjective - it's just something that I found a bit odd while reading.
That seems like a lot of flaws, right? But even so, I still enjoyed the book. I think it laid out its main conflicts well, it had decent characters, it had excellent minority representation, and it achieved what it set out to achieve. Not too shabby.
If you enjoyed The Passing Playbook, I'd recommend the webcomic Check, Please!, which features a gay protagonist in a hockey team.
Our protagonist Spencer Harris is a teenage boy who recently moved schools after being physically threatened for being trans. Concerned for his safety, his parents have gone to the trouble of moving house in order to qualify for Oakley, the most progressive school in rural Wayne County, Ohio. The school even has a "QSA" (Queer-Straight Alliance) club, which would be unimaginable at other schools in the county.
The school may be a progressive dream, but before long Spencer finds himself with two challenges. Firstly, he secretly joins the Oakley boys' soccer team - something his parents would vehemently disapprove of if they knew, due to their fears for his safety. Secondly, he develops a massive crush on soccer teammate Justice Cortes. Oh boy - and moving schools was meant to make everything simpler!
Overall I enjoyed The Passing Playbook (and enjoyed the title pun). It wasn't perfect, but there were no dealbreaking flaws. Actually, the novel got a lot of things right:
- Accurate medical details regarding Spencer's transition. The descriptions of puberty blockers and testosterone HRT were all spot-on. I also liked that
- Probably the best depiction of an autistic child I've ever seen in a book. Spencer's 8-year-old brother Theo Harris is autistic - a fact I discovered with some trepidation, considering how badly other media handles this. But Theo ended up as one of the best characters in the book. He actually reminded me of IRL autistic friends of mine, although of course like an 8-year-old version of them. This gave me the impression that the author either has first-hand experience or was very thorough with his research.
- Also a superb portrayal of a non-binary person. Riley, a non-binary student at the school, is introduced in such a way that their assigned sex is never mentioned or even hinted at. This contrasts with portrayals of non-binary people in other media which miss the point with "Oh, but are you a male non-binary or a female non-binary?". With the focus firmly placed on who they really are, not what they were born as, Riley's portrayal was a breath of fresh air.
(That's not to say that a non-binary character's assigned sex should never be mentioned in a novel, I just found this really refreshing.)
- And there's a similar nice Bi The Way moment with a minor character.
- Gripping plot with interesting challenges and dilemmas. Spencer's situation has serious stakes behind it (i.e., his physical safety and risk of being ostracized), so I was compelled to see how his story would turn out. The story also hits a number of interesting beats and tense scenes with plenty of conflict.
Now, were there any flaws? Sure - but I'm happy to say that these were (a) relatively minor, and (b) nothing to do with the book's representation of minorities.
- The pacing was fast, as driven by the author's clean, concise writing style. And that's meant to be a good thing, right? Well, sure - but the pacing was also fast during climactic scenes that could have been dramatically slowed to increase tension.
- This felt like a waste, as it seemed that the novel's scenes weren't pushed to their full potential. Spencer would take some risk, and then would receive the reward so soon afterwards that it minimized how much of a risk he'd taken. The lack of negative results to some of these risks also diminished how serious the risks were, e.g.
- There was one instance where the novel does it well, though, which was
- Relatedly, the ending rushed in very abruptly, leaving a number of plot threads untied.
- Spencer and Justice had particular character flaws that pushed them to the edge of likeability. Justice ran so hot-and-cold that I was constantly getting whiplash, and found it hard to believe that Spencer was still holding a flame for this guy. Meanwhile, Spencer just couldn't understand that Justice, a teenage boy with no financial or social resources, couldn't possibly be expected to
- I also thought it wasn't too smart of Spencer, whose medical transition and enrolment at a progressive school was due to massive effort from his parents, to throw a tantrum at them because they didn't manage to read his mind and know that he wanted them to tell him
- The narration of Spencer's reactions to Justice touching him on the arm/shoulder/hand/etc was initially intriguing since it introduced the plot point of the crush. Shivers and goosebumps, oh my! But then it kept repeating... and repeating... and repeating... until I was bored. Honestly, mentioning this two or three times is enough.
- Relatedly, I felt there was a missed opportunity of discussing Spencer's feelings about being trans and gay. Being gay is a huge issue for
- This is subjective, but I found it weird how American the book is. I mean, I've read a lot of books by American authors. They've written some of the best English-language books in existence! (Like The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, Fahrenheit 451, Slaughterhouse-Five, Catch-22, The Color Purple, To Kill a Mockingbird, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Death of a Salesman, The Outsiders, and many more.) But this is the first time I've remarked to myself "Wow! This is just so... so... American!"
- Like the specific capitalization of "Black" but not "white" when referring to race.
- Or how Spencer was so quick assume racist intentions from his teachers (e.g.
- Or how Spencer called his dad a "blerd" ("black nerd"), again with the odd emphasis on race.
- Or how weirdly petty Spencer was over social justice topics (e.g.
- Or the sudden use of unexplained jargon dropped into the narration (e.g. "cisnormativity"). This came off as stilted in comparison to the simpler language in the rest of the novel.
- Or how Spencer asked Justice "You do believe in evolution, right?" It's the kind of question you wouldn't even need to ask in many countries.
- Again, this point is very subjective - it's just something that I found a bit odd while reading.
That seems like a lot of flaws, right? But even so, I still enjoyed the book. I think it laid out its main conflicts well, it had decent characters, it had excellent minority representation, and it achieved what it set out to achieve. Not too shabby.
If you enjoyed The Passing Playbook, I'd recommend the webcomic Check, Please!, which features a gay protagonist in a hockey team.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Minor: Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Transphobia, and Outing
Religious bigotry is perhaps the strongest content warning for this book, as Spencer meets Justice's religious family and learns about their unsavoury opinions.Transphobia, outing, and a hate crime are briefly referenced in a past event and a one-line transphobic comment is made at a distance.
Racism is briefly referenced, especially regarding black/white relations in the United States, but does not actually appear in the book.
The main romantic relationship in the book is not at all explicit and remains firmly PG-rated.
There is no discrimination against Spencer's autistic brother, Theo.
alyxinthestars's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia and Religious bigotry
Minor: Outing
noahwoah's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Outing
Minor: Racism
a_libra_library's review
emotional
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
My first book with a trans main character. I liked the story of our MC wanting to join the soccer team, finding a romance but also the laws and hurdles of being a trans student in high school and how that effects students. It made me think of how it effect students in real life and how I as an ally can actually help or advocate. It was a hopeful, inspiring story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Biphobia, Cursing, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Transphobia, Outing, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
horns_and_ember's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Bullying, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Medical content, and Outing
mary_johnston's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Becky Albertalli explained my feelings toward this book pretty damn well, cause boy did I love it!
It tackles topics like identity, fear of coming out, bullying, and what that can do to a person, being on the spectrum and, my absolute favorite one, religious bigotry.
It tackles topics like identity, fear of coming out, bullying, and what that can do to a person, being on the spectrum and, my absolute favorite one, religious bigotry.
"Spencer always assumed that coming out was a one-way thing, that the responsibility fell on him, and him alone. But Coach's story made him reconsider. Just because the onus always fell on trans and queer people, didn't mean it should."
Being excluded from society because of the person you identify as is such bullshit and should not be happening anymore, although it still is. And then, as Spencer also said plenty of times, he had it very good compared to other people which is really inhumane when you think about it. Trying to conform to the so called "norms" could mentally and physically harm a person and this book shed some light on that. It also paid tribute to many transgender people and queer people alike, the most obvious one, and intended so, is for Aiden Rivera Schaeff, this being one of the many reasons I enjoyed reading the book as much as I did.
The Passing Playbook also has in main focus "football" and the bonds created between teammates and their coach as well as the struggles they encounter together. It described this relationship as a very healthy and warm one, without any prejudices. In the end, they are a family and they have each other's back.
I've never cared much for football or any other sport in general and I had a sort of hesitation before picking the book up, because of this. However, now that I've finished it, I think of football as a less brutal sport, in which the aim is not just to kick the ball.
The Passing Playbook also has in main focus "football" and the bonds created between teammates and their coach as well as the struggles they encounter together. It described this relationship as a very healthy and warm one, without any prejudices. In the end, they are a family and they have each other's back.
I've never cared much for football or any other sport in general and I had a sort of hesitation before picking the book up, because of this. However, now that I've finished it, I think of football as a less brutal sport, in which the aim is not just to kick the ball.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Outing
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, and Panic attacks/disorders
bookedandbusy's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I absolutely loved this book! Such a great story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Outing
Minor: Addiction and Drug use
a_mendoza's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I was expecting the writing style to be more generic teen/YA but it does a good job sticking to that genre while still flowing well and not feeling too forced. It's a very feel-good type of book that's easy to really connect with. I'm giving it a 4 because it does what it sets out to do really well.
Also to anyone looking at the content warning, the transphobia is very much not graphic just very relevant to the story so that's probably why people added it. there's fear and brief mentions of transphobic violence but none that occur. No slurs. Mentions of deadnaming without revealing deadnames and some moderate misgendering. What I really liked was that there's deliberately no indication of the agab of the nonbinary character.
Also to anyone looking at the content warning, the transphobia is very much not graphic just very relevant to the story so that's probably why people added it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Bullying, Outing, and Dysphoria
trishnasaha's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Outing
anaguana's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Outing
Minor: Bullying, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual content