FORWARD MARCH

An ace band geek comes into her own in Quinlan’s debut.

High school senior Harper prefers to stay out of the spotlight. The daughter of the leading Republican presidential nominee (dad) and her private boarding school’s conservative dean (mom), she tries to focus on her position as first chair for saxophone in marching band and her best friends, queer Nadia and bisexual, nonbinary Bellamy. She couldn’t be more surprised to learn that her classmate Margot, the Canadian ambassador’s daughter, is being catfished—by someone posing as Harper. As the two strike up a real-life friendship that quickly turns romantic, Harper has to navigate her health (she has asthma exacerbated by anxiety), increasing friendship tensions, her burgeoning realizations that she might be a lesbian and asexual, decisions about privacy and her romantic life, and a family rift. Christian, her older brother who cut off contact with their toxic parents, is gay, an army veteran, and in recovery from addiction. Harper’s first-person narration satisfyingly hits the beats of many queer teen rom-coms, including triumphant growth in self-awareness and a tidy ending. It is immensely refreshing to see an asexual romantic lead whose sexuality isn’t a point of conflict in either her relationship or the broader narrative. Harper and most other characters default to White. Nadia is Indonesian, and Canadian Margot is biracial (implied Black and White).

Readers will welcome this addition to the ace YA canon.