OUT!

This coming-out guide for the next generation hits all the right notes.

McKenna, a queer, white, trans YouTube personality, presents a new generation of tween and teen readers with an updated coming-out guide that’s fun, fresh, and incredibly useful. Celebrity-authored books can be hit or miss, but this one will be a hit thanks to the warmth and personality that infuse it. Along the way, readers will learn about McKenna’s story of coming out as queer, then as trans. But although sections of the book discuss his life, the focus remains on providing solid real-world advice. McKenna tackles a laundry list of common (and less common) aspects of coming out, from the role and changing nature of self-labeling to finding or making safe spaces to therapy to maintaining a healthy mental state throughout the process. It’s on this point that the book truly shines; McKenna consistently and effectively reminds readers to value their mental health. Links in the text and in the backmatter will supply readers with plenty of places to turn for help. Superfans will be ecstatic because the book is peppered with photo-shoot images of McKenna, sometimes alone, sometimes with friends. The pictures tell the best story of all: that of a young man who’s comfortable in his own skin.

A worthy read for teens, tweens, and their parents.