THEN EVERYTHING HAPPENS AT ONCE

Sixteen-year-old Baylee must navigate life against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Baylee lives in a suburb of Toronto. She has had a crush on her guy friend Freddie for years but believes he could never like a fat girl like her. Baylee is also talking to Alex, whom she met online, but the energy with Freddie shifts, and it seems like something’s about to happen. Just as Baylee’s love life is starting to look up, the Covid pandemic hits, and she has to contend with its impact on her budding relationships as well as keep her sister, who has serious physical and cognitive disabilities, safe. The treatment of Baylee’s body size feels realistic: She is a confident young woman who is also plagued by negative self-talk about her weight. Baylee’s relationship to herself, her sexuality, and her partners is realistically complex. She does not always make the right decisions, and though she does go through a process of learning to love and accept herself, her self-esteem is not neatly fixed. Without being explicit, the story largely focuses on Baylee’s sexual awakening, framed by the high stakes of the pandemic. This is not a typical romance—Baylee is not searching for the love of her life, and the sexual and romantic experiences she has help her discover who she is. Sex is treated with respect and reverence but not as obligatorily monogamous. Main characters read White.

A pleasurable, emotional, and authentic coming-of-age story.