Leah On The Offbeat
Publisher
Balzer + Bray
Publication Year
2018
ISBN
9780062643803
Pages
343 pages
Genre
realism
Format
novel
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
Leah Burke - girl-band drummer, master of deadpan, and Simon Spier's best friend from the award-winning Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - takes centre stage in this novel of first love and senior-year angst. When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat - but real life isn't always so rhythmic. An anomaly in her friend group, she's the only child of a young, single mum, and her life is decidedly less privileged. And even though her mom knows she's bisexual, she hasn't mustered the courage to tell her friends - not even her openly gay BFF, Simon. So Leah really doesn't know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It's hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting. Especially when she realises she might love one of them more than she ever intended.
Grade Level
9-12
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; LGBTQ (Gender and Sexuality); Single parent; Divorce; Bisexuality; Gay/Lesbian; single mother; divorced parents; bisexual teenager; gay teenagers; same sex relationship
Main Character
girl
Race/Ethnicities
White
Family Formation
single mother
LGBTQ+
female/female; male/male; male/female
Keywords
high school; college; prom; friendships; relationships; drumming; band; overweight girl
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Albertalli, Becky, "Leah On The Offbeat" (2018). Diverse Families. 1277.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/1277