Camp QUILTBAG

From the acclaimed authors of Hurricane Season and Ana on the Edge, an unforgettable story about the importance of and joy in finding a community, for fans of Alex Gino and Ashley Herring-Blake.
 
Twelve-year-old Abigail (she/her/hers) is so excited to spend her summer at Camp QUILTBAG, an inclusive retreat for queer and trans kids. She can’t wait to find a community where she can be herself—and, she hopes, admit her crush on Laura Dern to kids who will understand.

Thirteen-year-old Kai (e/em/eir) is not as excited. E just wants to hang out with eir best friend and eir parkour team. And e definitely does not want to think about the incident that left eir arm in a sling—the incident that also made Kai’s parents determined to send em somewhere e can feel like emself.

After a bit of a rocky start at camp, Abigail and Kai make a pact to help each other find their footing, all while navigating crushes, their queer identities, and a competition pitting cabin against cabin.

“Praise for Nicole Melleby:”

“The main characters stand as loving depictions of cis lesbian and nonbinary kids.. It captures that camp feeling of getting away from home, meeting different people, and growing as a person, all over the course of just two weeks.  At its heart, an enjoyable summer camp story.”——Kirkus Reviews
“Middle-schoolers find increased self-awareness and solidarity at an LGBTQ+ camp in this empathetic, widely representative novel…Prominent in queer middle-grade fiction, Melleby and Sass write with incredible compassion, crafting a sweet summertime romance while modeling difficult conversations and valuable lessons in inclusivity. An instructive, affirming pick for rainbow readers and allies.”—Booklist
"Warm and affirming . . . A timely and necessary addition to any elementary or middle school library, especially as LGBTQIA+ children are seeking examples of loving communities who fully embrace every part of them."—School Library Journal
“The main characters stand as loving depictions of cis lesbian and nonbinary kids.. It captures that camp feeling of getting away from home, meeting different people, and growing as a person, all over the course of just two weeks.  At its heart, an enjoyable summer camp story.”—Kirkus Reviews
"Distilling many relatable experiences and engaging with themes of layered identity, this important story highlights the importance of queer camaraderie and education.”
 —Publishers Weekly
"This engaging, gently affirming novel should be valuable to young readers exploring their own identities or curious about those of others.”—The Horn Book

Nicole Melleby, a New Jersey native, is the author of highly praised middle-grade books, including the Lambda Literary finalist Hurricane Season and ALA Notable book How to Become a Planet. She lives with her wife and their cat, whose need for attention oddly aligns with Nicole’s writing schedule. Visit her online at nicolemelleby.com and @LadyMelleby on Twitter.

A.J. Sass (he/they) is an author, editor, and competitive figure skater who is interested in how intersections of identity, neurodiversity, and allyship can impact story narratives. He is the author of Ana on the Edge and Ellen Outside the Lines (Little, Brown), as well as a contributor to the This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us anthology (Knopf). He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his boyfriend, a handful of aquarium fish, and two cats who act like dogs. Visit him online at sassinsf.com or @matokah on Twitter and Instagram.

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