Squad
2019
Jenna Watson is a cheerleader. And, she wants you to know it's not some Hollywood crap: they are not every guy's fantasy. They are not the "mean girls" of Marsen High School. They're literally just human females trying to live their lives and do a perfect toe touch. And, their team is at the top of their game. They're a family.
But, all that changes when Jenna's best friend stops talking to her. Suddenly, she's not getting invited out with the rest of the squad. She's always a step behind. And, she has no idea why. While grappling with post-cheer life, Jenna explores things she never allowed herself to like, including LARPing (live action role playing) and a relationship with a trans guy that feels a lot like love.
When Jenna loses the sport and the friends she's always loved, she has to ask herself: What else is left?
But, all that changes when Jenna's best friend stops talking to her. Suddenly, she's not getting invited out with the rest of the squad. She's always a step behind. And, she has no idea why. While grappling with post-cheer life, Jenna explores things she never allowed herself to like, including LARPing (live action role playing) and a relationship with a trans guy that feels a lot like love.
When Jenna loses the sport and the friends she's always loved, she has to ask herself: What else is left?
"Jenna may not get everything she wants by the end of the book, but what she does get, she works for, and that makes for a satisfying journey. Squad is a short, highly concentrated blast of a book that revels in all the best and worst feelings of high school and offers the reader a charismatic and imperfect character to fall in love with. Jenna certainly won me over, and so did Squad."
- NPR
"An openhearted debut that, like Jenna herself, has wonderfully surprising depth."
- Booklist