Outside the Lines

First love is hard enough when it’s not with two boys at once. This gorgeously written, gripping love-triangle novel is also an insightful exploration of identity. It’s an exciting young adult debut by the Newbery Honor-winning author of The Night Diary.

Are all stories created by the few seconds when things crash into each other, lip to lip, or plane to ground?

Leela has a story to tell—the story of her intense junior year, dominated by an unexpected love triangle with two boys from her art class, and made even more complicated by her grief over her father’s tragic death and the separateness she feels as a girl with both Indian and Jewish backgrounds in a school where white Christian students are the majority. She keeps her relationship with Andre and Noah a secret from her mother, losing herself in the art and connection they create together, puzzling over her feelings for each boy, and pushing away her worries . . . until it’s impossible to continue doing so.

Written as a free-verse letter to her favorite musician, who Leela feels might actually understand, this gorgeous and empowering novel is about discovering one’s place in the world and forgiving ourselves for the mess we often make in the name of love, art, and being human.