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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
caseythereader's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-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
4.75
- Oh, my heart. I want to hug Spencer and Justice so close.
- This book tackles so much heavy stuff: transphobia, religious bigotry, governmental bigotry, poor allyship and more. Somehow, though, it remained a gentle, caring story.
- I had a hard time buying that Spencer would be quite so oblivious as to why Justice's deep closetedness made him act the way he did, but also, sometimes teens don't see the whole picture, I guess. Definitely still a very worthwhile read even if that bit was a little forced.
- This book tackles so much heavy stuff: transphobia, religious bigotry, governmental bigotry, poor allyship and more. Somehow, though, it remained a gentle, caring story.
- I had a hard time buying that Spencer would be quite so oblivious as to why Justice's deep closetedness made him act the way he did, but also, sometimes teens don't see the whole picture, I guess. Definitely still a very worthwhile read even if that bit was a little forced.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Transphobia, Excrement, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Addiction, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Racism, and Blood
criticalgayze's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I read this in preparation for a discussion on the 2022 Lambda award nominees, and I came away really enjoying my reading experience. This one really highlights the importance for marginalized people to be on the forefront of telling their stories because there's an intense specificity in the detail of Spencer's interior monologue about homosexuality and self and external transgender body politicking.
This does suffer from some of the "stereotypical" attacks lobbed at "Young Adult" literature, which I believe are just the key faults of any poorly edited book. First, it has a big problem with being overstuffed on points. First, I think focusing on both transgender athleticism and homosexual dating as a transgender person is a lot in one book. This likely should have been developed as a series, akin to the Darius books by Adib Khorram, where each issue could be tackled in its own text.Further, I think that including a closeted dating relationship that includes intense religious bigotry being faced by the love interest was too much for a book that was really a single-perspective story. Fitzsimmons does not give the time here to truly flesh that out, and it ends up with this weirdly rushed, "But it's all mostly alright!" ending. For me personally, there are also some issues with hokey canned "I realize I was being small minded" one-liners, and, given the sociopolitical aspects of the story, Justice's acceptance of Spencer's gender identity seemed maybe a touch beyond logic.
But this is all me with my critical English teacher/scholar brain. This one is very cute, and I think could be really helpful and necessary for Queer (particularly trans) youth, especially in our current moment. Put it in your classroom library!
Quotes:
As if Spencer’s thoughts were sending out a homing beacon, Justice looked over in his direction, making eye contact, and Spencer understood what Gimli saw when he gazed upon Galadriel. (30)
Just because the onus always fell on trans and queer people, didn’t mean it should. (262)
Spencer didn’t want to be tolerated. You tolerated a bad smell. You tolerated a leaky faucet until it got fixed. (278)
This does suffer from some of the "stereotypical" attacks lobbed at "Young Adult" literature, which I believe are just the key faults of any poorly edited book. First, it has a big problem with being overstuffed on points. First, I think focusing on both transgender athleticism and homosexual dating as a transgender person is a lot in one book. This likely should have been developed as a series, akin to the Darius books by Adib Khorram, where each issue could be tackled in its own text.
But this is all me with my critical English teacher/scholar brain. This one is very cute, and I think could be really helpful and necessary for Queer (particularly trans) youth, especially in our current moment. Put it in your classroom library!
Quotes:
As if Spencer’s thoughts were sending out a homing beacon, Justice looked over in his direction, making eye contact, and Spencer understood what Gimli saw when he gazed upon Galadriel. (30)
Just because the onus always fell on trans and queer people, didn’t mean it should. (262)
Spencer didn’t want to be tolerated. You tolerated a bad smell. You tolerated a leaky faucet until it got fixed. (278)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia
Moderate: Bullying and Religious bigotry
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, and Drug use
laurenleigh's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This was a really sweet YA novel about a trans boy who is prohibited from playing soccer in the boy’s league. His relationship with his family is central to the text, and I found these dynamics very interesting. Age-wise, I’m pretty much halfway between the main character and his parents, and I found myself relating to both in different ways. I love how Spencer’s mom was so dedicated to supporting her son. I often think about how great books like these are for kids and teens to see representation, but I’m also now thinking about how adults can benefit from reading this genre as well. I don’t have kids yet, but if I did and they came out as trans to me, I think I’ve definitely learned something here from Spencer’s mom! Lastly, this audiobook narrator did a fantastic job and gave everyone perfectly distinct voices.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia
the_vegan_bookworm's review
lighthearted
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? No
3.0
This was a cute read featuring a Black trans MC and a Latino gay MC. It's a sports romance with a large focus on soccer, but it also touches on religious bigotry, transphobia and homophobia throughout. There are also moments that touch on anti-autistic ableism in relation to the MC's younger brother.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Mass/school shootings
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
piperclover's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
I immediately went to find more by the author but this is his first fiction novel! What's an amazing first it is! Such wonderful discussions, personal growth, and sweet moments. Absolutely phenomenal. I do wish we saw more of the best friend though
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Moderate: Transphobia
megelizabeth's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
“Listen, here’s the thing: People like you and me are going to have to work a million times harder, be a million times better, and do it without upsetting anybody in order to be successful. It’s not fair, but that’s just how it is."
I thoroughly enjoyed and adored this book. The main character, Spencer, is interesting and feels very real, and I loved getting to explore his relationships and to see him grow as a person. The developments in his relationships with his parents and with new friend/maybe more, Justice, are done well, and I also really loved the friendships he forms with his team members and how wonderfully and non-stereotypically these teenage male friendships are presented.
This isn't an easy read; Spencer and other characters have to deal with a lot of difficult and just awful things, and there are a lot of conversations about such things and about the often unfortunate experiences of trans people and people of colour. I found these themes to be addressed well, though please bear in mind that I'm talking as a white, cis person - I'd definitely recommend checking out own-voices reviews. For me, I found there to be a perfect amount of angst, tension, and drama, coupled with enough hope not to finish the book feeling entirely soul-destroyed and instead to finish it with feelings of bittersweetness and subtle hope.
My only real criticism of this book is that it feels like it's set over too short a span of time. I have no concept of what constitutes a football season, but I got the sense that it's supposed to be set over the course of one, and while that makes sense, to me it meant that everything feels like it's developing a bit too quickly, and I think setting it over the course of a school year would've made things seem more natural. There's also one thing that's alluded to but is never really addressed, and it bugged me that we never get clarification.
All that being said, though, I still absolutely loved this book, and would highly, highly recommend it.
I thoroughly enjoyed and adored this book. The main character, Spencer, is interesting and feels very real, and I loved getting to explore his relationships and to see him grow as a person. The developments in his relationships with his parents and with new friend/maybe more, Justice, are done well, and I also really loved the friendships he forms with his team members and how wonderfully and non-stereotypically these teenage male friendships are presented.
This isn't an easy read; Spencer and other characters have to deal with a lot of difficult and just awful things, and there are a lot of conversations about such things and about the often unfortunate experiences of trans people and people of colour. I found these themes to be addressed well, though please bear in mind that I'm talking as a white, cis person - I'd definitely recommend checking out own-voices reviews. For me, I found there to be a perfect amount of angst, tension, and drama, coupled with enough hope not to finish the book feeling entirely soul-destroyed and instead to finish it with feelings of bittersweetness and subtle hope.
My only real criticism of this book is that it feels like it's set over too short a span of time. I have no concept of what constitutes a football season, but I got the sense that it's supposed to be set over the course of one, and while that makes sense, to me it meant that everything feels like it's developing a bit too quickly, and I think setting it over the course of a school year would've made things seem more natural. There's also one thing that's alluded to but is never really addressed, and it bugged me that we never get clarification.
All that being said, though, I still absolutely loved this book, and would highly, highly recommend it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, and Suicide
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