Brilliant representation for teens of marginalised identities, the story was a bit weak for an adult reader but lots of lessons well-integrated into the story. ( )

Seventeen-year-old Black, queer, trans, neurodivergent Lark misses her former best friend Kasim, and is convinced that if she gets 50k Twitter followers, a book deal will be forthcoming. But, as she learns, she's writing for the wrong reasons - to please other people and to be loved, rather than to send her message out into the world. With the help of friends - and antagonists - Lark realizes that bravery and change are required. Set in West Philly.

A challenging read, as Callender successfully writes a neurodivergent character in first person; it can be uncomfortable to be in Lark's head and heart.

Quotes

I learned from an early age that I don't get to be angry or frustrated. Some people are allowed to take up space in this world, while other people are expected to disappear. (7)

...and maybe that's the scariest thing of all - never really knowing what I'm going wrong, why everyone else in the world has love and a ton of family and friends and just knows, inherently, without a doubt that they belong. (11)

"Not everyone is going to like you.....You'll spend your entire life trying to mold yourself into someone else, but then you'll realize you wasted all that time getting others to like someone who isn't even you." (Mom to Lark, 35)

"And besides, usually the things we say we hate about other people are actually the things we hate about ourselves, and we forget that we're all worthy of unconditional love." (123)

Why do you need to be liked by everyone?
...I'm not safe if I'm not liked. (167)

"I think that's what scares me the most. Being honest, just to be rejected." (Lark to Sable, 184)

Maybe realizing that each and every human being makes mistakes means we can have more compassion for others when they mess up. Maybe that means having more compassion for ourselves, too. (218)

"I like awkward. I like uncomfortable. That's where the hard conversations happen. That's where we're forced to be honest with ourselves and each other." (Sable, 302)

In a world that wants me to hate myself, teaches me to hate myself, expects me to hate myself, learning to love myself instead can be an entire revolution. (310) ( )

My experience with Lark and Kasim Start a Revolution was mixed. I enjoyed the characters, rooted for them, but also felt exhausted by them—sounds just like a stereotypical old person responding to teens, doesn't it?

I am, however, not the intended audience for this book. It's written for and about a community of nonbinary teens, most of them POC. That's a community that is hugely underrepresented (times infinity) in current publishing. I will be recommending Lark and Kasim Start a Revolution to my students, buying copies of it to share, and looking forward to future titles from this author.

If you enjoy YA literature and/or want more depictions of nonbinary, POC youth, grab this book. Read it, then pass on your copy to someone who needs it. We all have people who fit that description in our lives.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. ( )

This YA novel covered a lot of hot button issues of the current nascent decade: the experience of the pandemic, racism and police brutality, lgbtqia identities, trans rights, and polyamory, among others. It was set in a true to life Philadelphia, which was delightful. I think you'd already need to have well established knowledge and ideas of the issues in the novel, and maybe to have had similar experiences and feelings to the main characters to really vibe with it; it wasn't an introductory or explanatory kind of text. I know the right audience will love it. I don't doubt it could be a new generation's The Perks of Being a Wallflower. ( )