SPIN WITH ME

Esther, who goes by Essie, moves to a new state and falls in love.

Essie relocates to North Carolina with her dad for a semester as part of his job as a professor. She says a temporary goodbye to her old friends but soon meets nonbinary Ollie and develops a crush on them. Essie helps Ollie out with the school’s LGBTQ+ club while starting to question her own orientation because of her feelings for Ollie. The narrative is split into two halves, the first narrated by Essie and the second by Ollie, which cover the same time span, helpfully marked by a day count. Gender identity forms a large part of the narrative, but Ollie’s nonbinary gender is portrayed as a natural part of them rather than a big issue or wow moment. Ollie’s relationship with their mother is adorable and heartwarming, with their mother using the rather sweet and gender-neutral “kiddo” to refer to them. Bigotry against Ollie is briefly addressed in one scene but is done so tactfully; it is clear that a great deal of empathy has gone into this narrative. The romance and chemistry between Essie and Ollie are also enjoyable. Essie and Ollie are both White while two of their mutual friends are Black and Latinx.

A charming, feel-good LGBTQ+ story.