WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE

Teenage cousins Talia and Mark confront family drama and relationship struggles when they end up on an unplanned road trip to Toronto Pride.

Mark and Talia haven’t seen each other since they were about 10, but when their grandfather dies unexpectedly, they end up spending a week together in their family’s summer cottage in Muskoka, Ontario. Talia is preoccupied with her rocky romance with Erin, who is nonbinary, while Mark just wants to meet cute guys and ignore the boyfriend he is stringing along back home. The flimsy plot is secondary to the growth of Talia and Mark, who are both presumed white and identify as queer and gay, respectively. They seem caught between a queer history that they don’t quite understand (what does it mean to be a butch, anyway?) and a queer future that they are trying to create (is the taboo against outing still relevant if being queer is no big deal?). Ultimately, this story captures a coming-of-age moment in two young people’s lives as they begin to figure out where they fit in the world. Mark confronts his entitlement while Talia begins to form her own identity independent of her partner and family. This book is packed full of teaching moments, and while some feel tedious, others perfectly capture the frustration of, for example, explaining “they/them” pronouns yet again.

A thoughtful meditation on being a young, white, queer person today.