GLITCH GIRL!

In this work inspired by the author’s life, J—, a neurodivergent, nonbinary trans girl, grasps for love and community as she plunges and loops on the roller coaster of her life.

J—, who uses she/her and they/them pronouns, wants to “be good”: for her parents, who used to make her feel loved; for the teachers who don’t seem to like her; for the Guests in the computer game Coaster Boss, who keep leaving her theme parks; and for classmate and crush Junie, who trusts her. But the rules she’s supposed to follow are impossible. She forgets her homework and makes too much noise in class. Her parks are in debt, and her Guests die in accidents. Desperate for kindness, friendship, and self-understanding, J— latches onto Junie when they meet at the start of fifth grade and obsesses over an imagined love between them, even as the two drift apart. This coming-of-age story follows J—, the child of Russian Jewish immigrants, from fifth through seventh grades. The narrative, written in spare, direct verse, spirals deeply into J—’s traumatic, abusive upbringing and her unhealthy fixation with Junie, which spawns a rivalry with Junie’s friend Garrison. Coaster Boss acts as both a mechanism of escape and a reflection of her mental health. Although the majority of the narrative is heavy with loneliness and anxiety, the resolution is hopeful and empathetic.

A turbulent, emotionally wrenching coming-of-age story.