Mason Deaver
"Dramatic, hilarious, and heartbreaking. I fell for these characters so hard."
Booklist
**STARRED REVIEW** "Dean’s journey is tender, emotional, honest, and unafraid to face both the pain and joy of coming out. Through Dean’s authentic and hopeful voice, Stoeve expertly crafts a powerful exploration of who we can become when we have the courage to choose our own paths."
The Horn Book
"Each new step—changing his pronouns, getting a chest binder—makes him feel more comfortable in his body, as does acceptance by his best friend and the new friends he makes in a support group. Dean authentically and accessibly describes his experience as a trans man... Dean’s story demonstrates the courage that it takes to come out."
author of Anger is a Gift and Each of Us a Desert Mark Oshiro
An astounding debut overflowing with heart. Stoeve beautifully captures the world of high school theater as much as they also give teens a story about the pitfalls of holding others to impossible, unfair standards. I spent the whole book rooting for Dean and his incredible group of friends. This is exactly the kind of book I needed long, long ago.
writer and Tony Award-winning actor Daisy Eagan
Between Perfect and Real perfectly captures the rollercoaster ride of being a queer high school senior. Stoeve gives voice to the heartbreaks and triumphs of regular kid life in that time when we're all trying to figure out who we've been, who we are, and who we want to be. A beautiful read.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Stoeve perfectly encapsulates the experience of a teen’s trans awakening. . .This #ownvoices verse Bildungsroman is an invaluable guidebook for readers in a state of gender self-realization."
National Book Award winner Kacen Callender
Between Perfect and Real manages to be both powerful and feel like a warm hug, written with love for every trans and nonbinary young reader, offering guidance on their paths. Informative and hopeful, I know that this book will change and save lives. A beautiful debut!
author of Tyler Johnson Was Here and Things We Cou Jay Coles
"Stoeve's Between Perfect and Real is a funny, heartfelt and utterly enchanting debut that explores all the complexities of teenagehood–love, friendship, identity, and what it means to be brave. An outstanding and necessary new voice in the YA canon!"
author of We Used to Be Friends Amy Spalding
Thoughtful, honest, and full of hope. Ray Stoeve’s Between Perfect and Real is bursting at the seams with so many of my favorite things: friendship, community, and theatre.
bestselling author of I Wish You All the Best Mason Deaver
"Dramatic, hilarious, and heartbreaking. I fell for these characters so hard."
From the Publisher
Between Perfect and Real manages to be both powerful and feel like a warm hug, written with love for every trans and nonbinary young reader, offering guidance on their paths. Informative and hopeful, I know that this book will change and save lives. A beautiful debut!”—Kacen Callender, National Book Award winner
“Thoughtful, honest, and full of hope. Ray Stoeve’s Between Perfect and Real is bursting at the seams with so many of my favorite things: friendship, community, and theatre.”—Amy Spalding, author of We Used to Be Friends
"Dramatic, hilarious, and heartbreaking. I fell for these characters so hard."—Mason Deaver, bestselling author of I Wish You All the Best
“An astounding debut overflowing with heart. Stoeve beautifully captures the world of high school theater as much as they also give teens a story about the pitfalls of holding others to impossible, unfair standards. I spent the whole book rooting for Dean and his incredible group of friends. This is exactly the kind of book I needed long, long ago.”—Mark Oshiro, author of Anger is a Gift and Each of Us a Desert
“Between Perfect and Real perfectly captures the rollercoaster ride of being a queer high school senior. Stoeve gives voice to the heartbreaks and triumphs of regular kid life in that time when we're all trying to figure out who we've been, who we are, and who we want to be. A beautiful read.”—Daisy Eagan, writer and Tony Award-winning actor
"Stoeve's Between Perfect and Real is a funny, heartfelt and utterly enchanting debut that explores all the complexities of teenagehood–love, friendship, identity, and what it means to be brave. An outstanding and necessary new voice in the YA canon!"—Jay Coles, author of Tyler Johnson Was Here and Things We Couldn't Say
"Not settling for pat, one-dimensional explanations, the story is honest about the uncertainty, self-consciousness, confusion, and fear that can accompany transition while being validating and supportive of its trans protagonist."—Kirkus Reviews
**STARRED REVIEW** "Dean’s journey is tender, emotional, honest, and unafraid to face both the pain and joy of coming out. Through Dean’s authentic and hopeful voice, Stoeve expertly crafts a powerful exploration of who we can become when we have the courage to choose our own paths." —Booklist
"Each new step—changing his pronouns, getting a chest binder—makes him feel more comfortable in his body, as does acceptance by his best friend and the new friends he makes in a support group. Dean authentically and accessibly describes his experience as a trans man... Dean’s story demonstrates the courage that it takes to come out."—The Horn Book
"Stoeve perfectly encapsulates the experience of a teen’s trans awakening. . .This #ownvoices verse Bildungsroman is an invaluable guidebook for readers in a state of gender self-realization." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Dean’s process of figuring out his identity and his love of acting will be relatable to many teens, and Stoeve does not shy away from the nuances of navigating life after coming out." —School Library Journal
author Anger is a Gift and Each of Us a Desert Mark Oshiro
An astounding debut overflowing with heart. Stoeve beautifully captures the world of high school theater as much as they also give teens a story about the pitfalls of holding others to impossible, unfair standards. I spent the whole book rooting for Dean and his incredible group of friends. This is exactly the kind of book I needed long, long ago.
Kirkus Reviews
2021-01-26
Being cast as Romeo in the school play helps Dean realize he’s transgender.
Now he needs to decide what to do about it. Dean lives in Seattle and has a loving girlfriend, Zoe, and a vivacious best friend, Ronnie. The three have big plans for college in New York City, but first they have one more year of high school. As a senior, Dean finally has a chance at a lead role, and, to his delight and astonishment, he’ll get to play Romeo. As far as everyone knows, Dean is a tomboy lesbian, but he comes to realize that he’s actually a transgender boy. The plot is arranged into five roughly Shakespearean acts, following Dean’s process of self-realization, coming out, facing transphobic bullying, and redefining his relationship with Zoe. The characters ponder a variety of queer-related topics, such as the intersection of race and sexuality (Ronnie is Black and gay; Dean and Zoe are White), toxic masculinity, and the transition of a romantic partner. In a rare and refreshing move, the author altogether avoids revealing Dean’s given name—Dean is a shortened version Ronnie came up with years earlier—and does not narratively humiliate or exploit him. Not settling for pat, one-dimensional explanations, the story is honest about the uncertainty, self-consciousness, confusion, and fear that can accompany transition while being validating and supportive of its trans protagonist.
An authentic and optimistic trans coming-out story. (Fiction. 14-18)
