Flyboy

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets the speculative twists of The Night Circus in this standout debut YA novel, about a boy who visits the magic-filled circus of his dreams each night in order to escape his daily reality where his trans identity remains a secret.

After an incident at his school leaves closeted trans teenager Asher Sullivan needing stitches, his mother betrays him in the worst possible way—she sends him to Catholic school for his senior year. Now he has to contend with hideous plaid skirts, cranky nuns, and #bathroomJesus.

Nighttime brings an escape for Asher when he dreams of the Midnight Circus—the one place where he is seen for the boy he truly is. Too bad it exists only in his sleep. Or at least, that’s what he believes, until the day his annoyingly attractive trapeze rival, Apollo, walks out of his dreams and into his classroom. On the heels of this realization that the magical circus might be real, Asher also learns that his time there is limited.

In his desperation to hang onto the one place he feels at home, Asher sets both worlds on a collision course that could destroy all the relationships he cares about most. Now he must decide how far he’ll go to preserve the magical circus, even if it means facing his biggest challenge yet—coming out.

Kasey LeBlanc was an Alice Hoffman fellow with GrubStreet’s Novel Incubator program and a finalist for the Boston Public Library Writer-in-Residence program. He has since been published by WBUR’s Cognoscenti, Writer Unboxed, and Them. When not writing, he can be found learning to unicycle and mourning the loss of Boston’s only flying trapeze school.

“As a closeted trans Catholic school kid, I would have given both my kidneys and my left lung to get my hands on a book like Flyboy. We have truly come so far that now the kids who need it get to keep their kidneys, but they’ll lose their minds swooning, crying, and cheering for such a beautiful story of trans magic.”
-Sonora Reyes, National Book Award Finalist for The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School

"An immersive, magical world. Timely." -Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Will appeal to readers who enjoy the dramatic arts. A trans story of belonging and first love.” -Kirkus Reviews