Things We Couldn't Say (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781338734188)

From one of the brightest and most acclaimed new lights in YA fiction, a fantastic new novel about a bi Black boy finding first love . . . and facing the return of the mother who abandoned his preacher family when he was nine.

There's always been a hole in Gio's life. Not because he's into both guys and girls. Not because his father has some drinking issues. Not because his friends are always bringing him their drama. No, the hole in Gio's life takes the shape of his birth mom, who left Gio, his brother, and his father when Gio was nine years old. For eight years, he never heard a word from her . . . and now, just as he's started to get his life together, she's back.

It's hard for Gio to know what to do. Can he forgive her like she wants to be forgiven? Or should he tell her she lost her chance to be in his life? Complicating things further, Gio's started to hang out with David, a new guy on the basketball team. Are they friends? More than friends? At first, Gio's not sure . . . especially because he's not sure what he wants from anyone right now.

There are no easy answers to love -- whether it's family love or friend love or romantic love. In Things We Couldn't Say, Jay Coles, acclaimed author of Tyler Johnson Was Here, shows us a guy trying to navigate love in all its ambiguity -- hoping at the other end he'll be able to figure out who is and who he should be.

Author: Jay Coles
ISBN-10: 1338734180
ISBN-13: 9781338734188
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Language: English
Published: 09/21/2021
Pages: 320
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.50w x 1.20d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 4.5
Point Value: 11
Interest Level: Upper Grade
Quiz #/Name: 513866 / Things We Couldn't Say


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 08/01/2021
School Library Journal 09/01/2021 pg. 102
Booklist 09/15/2021 pg. 66
Shelf Awareness 09/24/2021
Publishers Weekly 10/04/2021