Title: The Passing Playbook
Author: Isaac Fitzsimons
Series: Standalone
Publish Date: June 1, 2021
Publisher: Dial
Format: Ebook (via CloudLibrary)
Goodreads Summary:
Love, Simon meets Friday Night Lights in this feelgood LGBTQ+ romance about a trans teen torn between standing up for his rights and staying stealth.
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.
Review: I wanted to love this book. I really, really did.
The Passing Playbook features a transgender BIPOC young man who loves soccer, is in a budding romance, and is dealing with a lot. He’s at a new school where he’s not coming out, passing as male. The book deals with all sorts of issues, most of which are handled well.
The problem I think is that I felt the prose was bland. I didn’t feel excited when Spencer figured out how to beat the opposing team. I wasn’t surprised that the gender-neutral bathroom issue was constantly being set aside. I almost rolled my eyes when I read that Justice came from a highly religious family that opposed LGBT rights, but he was gay.
And the ending. Everything wrapped up in a bow. Spencer is out and completely accepted by his school. He gets to play soccer on the team. He gets the guy. It’s a classic Hollywood ending. And, to me, was just way too convenient.
It just didn’t work for me. I wanted to love it, but it didn’t click. And I’m so happy that others loved it, because it’s an important subject! Actually, most of the themes of this book are so important and they need to be talked about. I just didn’t click with it. And I’m so sorry about that.
Rating: 3/5
Goodreads Goal 15/52
(Quick note: I didn’t write a review for the 6th, 8th and 10th “books” I read this year, as they are the first three The Old Guard: Tales Through Time issues, which are 32 pages each. I decided I’ll just review the series as a whole when the final issue is released in September.)
