SASHA MASHA

Everything about White, Jewish, 17-year-old Sasha Masha’s life feels wrong. Polite smiles and good grades mask underlying surges of sadness. When Sasha Masha’s bold, queer best friend moves away, junior year becomes a time of grappling with identity outside of this friendship. An unexpected romance blossoms with Black girl Tracy, an academic superstar, and for the first time Sasha Masha starts to feel like a “Real” person. Despite how much Sasha Masha wants a relationship with Tracy, it’s a struggle to open up and express that something feels wrong until desperation leads to a community meeting of queer teens. Written in the first-person, this coming-of-age story offers an intimate view of self-discovery. Queer community and history play a refreshing significance in Sasha Masha’s personal revelations. Finding a name is a turning point within the narrative, so for most of the book other characters use Sasha Masha’s deadname. Characters model consent within their relationships, demonstrating the importance of asking before making any physical advance. The small cast of characters shows awareness of diversity and the impact of racial privilege. Unlike in many coming-out stories, Sasha Masha doesn’t arrive at a clear resolution possessing all the answers, instead displaying a sense of peace with the ongoing journey ahead.

A sensitive and vulnerable story of self-growth.