ANY PLACE BUT HERE

A North Carolina teen gets a fresh start at a new school midway through her junior year.

When June and her best friend are caught with alcohol at their private school, it feels like the end of the world. Sent to live with her Oma, who teaches at a girls boarding school in Virginia, June is furious with her parents for separating her from Jess, whom they consider a bad influence. With Jess, June felt unstoppable, confident, worldly, and seen, whereas her overbearing parents only saw delinquency. But as she settles into life in Virginia, June begins to learn who she is on her own thanks to her reserved but supportive grandmother, a tightknit (and sober) trio of new friends, and a film photography class she unexpectedly loves. Contemplative yet matter-of-fact prose chronicles the development of June’s sense of self, grounded by photography assignments that literally and figuratively offer opportunities to see the things—and people—in her life in new ways. June’s complicated feelings for Jess—and subsequent questioning of her sexuality before coming out as bisexual—are compassionately and authentically written, as are her tense exchanges with her parents. Most characters are presumed White; Kitty, one of June’s new friends, is queer and implied Korean American.

An atmospheric meditation on connection and identity.