Release: March 22nd, 2022
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Source: TBR and Beyond Tours
Find it at: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indigo | IndieBound
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Rain Reign meets Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World in this heartfelt novel about a neurodivergent thirteen-year-old navigating changing friendships, a school trip, and expanding horizons.
Thirteen-year-old Ellen Katz feels most comfortable when her life is well planned out and people fit neatly into her predefined categories. She attends temple with Abba and Mom every Friday and Saturday. Ellen only gets crushes on girls, never boys, and she knows she can always rely on her best-and-only friend, Laurel, to help navigate social situations at their private Georgia middle school.
Laurel has always made Ellen feel like being autistic is no big deal. But lately, Laurel has started making more friends and canceling more weekend plans with Ellen than she keeps. A school trip to Barcelona seems like the perfect place for Ellen to get their friendship back on track. Except it doesn’t. Toss in a new nonbinary classmate whose identity has Ellen questioning her very binary way of seeing the world, homesickness, a scavenger hunt-style team project that takes the students through Barcelona to learn about Spanish culture and this trip is anything but what Ellen planned.
Making new friends and letting go of old ones is never easy, but Ellen might just find a comfortable new place for herself if she can learn to embrace the fact that life doesn’t always stick to a planned itinerary.
About the Author:
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, a Booklist Editors’ Choice 2020 and ALA 2021 Rainbow Book List Top 10 for Young Readers selection, and Ellen Outside the Lines (Little, Brown, 2022), the co-author of Camp QUILTBAG* with Nicole Melleby (Algonquin, 2023), as well as a contributor to the This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us (Knopf) and Allies: Real Talk about Showing Up, Screwing Up, and Trying Again (DK US & UK) anthologies. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his boyfriend and two cats who act like dogs.
Ellen Outside the Lines Review:
Firstly, I loved the various representations the author includes in the story. Ellen shines in the lead as the autistic girl trying to set things right on her trip to Barcelona. I loved how the author represented autism and the queer and non-binary characters in the book. It’s refreshing to see how contemporary middle-grade fiction is becoming with such dynamic characters. Ellen shares a beautiful bond with Isa, and I adored the scenes where they talk about destiny and patterns. Similarly, I also enjoyed the supporting characters like Andy and Gibbs and found they also brought a fresh perspective.
Moreover, I enjoyed the drama between the characters. My heart went out to Ellen as she found her friendship with Laurel shaky. What was supposed to bring them together turns out to put them apart, as Laurel joins another team and hangs out with Sophie-Anne. At times, I felt like I saw a piece of myself in the tale. It is never easy to realize your best friend is maturing and moving away from you. The author depicts their emotions perfectly.
Also, the author made the story enjoyable with the characters’ adventure when they go on the scavenger hunt. The scavenger hunt is exciting as you see if the team is going in the right direction or not. You see Ellen grow as a person as she makes mistakes and learns from them. The author narrates the entire tale so beautifully that you will feel your heart swell towards the end.
Overall, “Ellen Outside the Lines” is a beautiful contemporary middle-grade fiction that had a lot going on, and the author delivered it perfectly!
I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the Ellen Outside the Lines by A.J. Sass Blog Tour hosted by TBR and Beyond Tours.
Book Tour Schedule
March 21st
unconventional Quirky Bibliophile – Review & Mood Board
Kait Plus Books – Review & Mood Board
March 22nd
Sadie’s Spotlight – Promotional Post
Melancholic Blithe-Review, Mood Board
Rajiv’s Reviews-Review
March 23rd
Nine Bookish Lives – Promotional Post
The Bookwyrm’s Den – Review
March 24th
Djreadsbooks-Promotional Post
Not In Jersey-Review
Paiges of Novels-15 Reactions While Reading Ellen Outside the Lines
March 25th
Twirling Book Princess-Promotional Post
Jen Jen Reviews-Review
March 26th
Rampant Reading Reviews-Promotional Post
Boys’ Mom Reads!-Review
LellieReads-Review
March 27th
Stuck in Fiction-Promotional Post
the nutty bookworm reads alot-Review
