A review by zinelib
A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff

adventurous funny informative fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Before we even get into his novel, Lukoff gives us a twist on the tragically trans narrative, quoting fellow trans fiction writer Julian J. Jarboe. 
God blessed me by making me transsexual for the same reason he made wheat but not bread and fruit but not wine: because he wants humanity to share in the act of creation.

14-year-old protagonist A (chose name still to be chosen) isn't self-hating, nor are his friends, despite how their bodies and lives are controlled by their parents who drag them to a group called Save Our Sons and Daughters SOSAD. SOSAD has ties to a conversion therapy establishment. While A and his buddies aren't self-hating, that doesn't mean they aren't as depressed, desperate, and suicidal as trans kids are all over the US. 

After their friend Yarrow is sent for conversion, A and Sal, a 16-year-old trans girl
At first I thought she hated me, but I soon found out that she hated everything. She was a useful person to be friends with despite--or because of--that. ''

(Kyle is so funny and clever, isn't he? That description of Sal and A's reaction to it are so relatable.)
(Here's where I should disclaim that I am friendquaintances with Kyle and jokingly think of myself as his biographer because I wrote his Wikipedia entry)

A is so upset about Yarrow's disappearance that he tries to find Yarrow by going to Yarrow's house (Yarrow is a no-pronouns/use-my-name person). He almost gets caught by Yarrow's dad and is saved by a sudden wind chucking trash at Yarrow's dad. It turns out that wind is a golem-identified supernatural force that is in Seattle specifically to help A Save the World. (Here's where I understand and possibly disagree with the book's title, A World Worth Saving. Is this world worth saving? Especially the US?) Anyway, A is skeptical about the golem and his role in any kind of world saving struggle. 
"Perhaps I am here because you are a trans 14-year-old who has already claimed the right to name himself. You are in the midst of your own creation, which gives you strength beyond imagining. And like the twilight, like the shore, like every littoral edge, one in the process of becoming is imbued with holiness."

That's kind of an incredible take on times of struggle and transition, isn't it, especially in the context of young teenhood, which I'd call the hardest life stage I've experienced so far. I suspect the only time that will be harder is the end of life transition--going from knowing to not knowing, self-control to dependence, etc. 

Having been Chosen (kind of like many Jewish people consider themselves to be--I think there are  some anti-Zionist themes in the book), A fancies himself special, a hero, a person who has sidekicks. His relationship with Sal, his partner in being a teen runaway, does not benefit from this attitude, and A finds himself alone. While there is a theme of good vs. evil in the novel, the main thrust of the hero's struggle isn't about his own tribulations, or it is in that A learns he cannot save the world on his own. And he has to listen. A talks to Sal about vanquishing Joanna from SOSAD and saving Yarrow. 
"Don't you wish you could do something about it?"
Sal drummed her fists on her legs. "I don't want to do anything like that. I just want...I dunno. An apartment and a girlfriend, and for people to look at me and be like 'wow, what a cute lesbian.' I'm pro 'be gay do crime,' but right now being myself feels like crime enough."

A's take on "be day do crime"
"I'm only breaking your toys. I haven't even touched you!" I reminded him gleefully. "If that's your definition of violence, then you're a pretty lucky guy. Anyway, I can't change your mind by being nice, so now I don't care! And it's fun to smash things! So I'm going to do that for a while! Self-care, you know?"

Maybe I've already given away too much. The main thing is that A and Sal and their friends are fighting evil, which takes the shape of transphobia and bigotry. If they fight together, they might just make the world a better place, at least a little. Making the world better is more mitzvah than mandate, but everyone needs to at least try. 

Also, it's wild how rare it feels to read a book where Jewish rituals and mythology are legible, even dominant the way Christianity typically is. (I remember a scene in the 1979 vampire romantic comedy where Richard Benjamin tries to stop George Hamilton's Dracula, but he pulls out a Star of David instead of a cross, and it does nothing.)