Ellen Outside the Lines

January 10, 2022
Sass’s (Ana on the Edge) sophomore novel explores classic struggles of navigating identity, relationships, and social expectations via an autistic, queer, Jewish 13-year-old traveling on a class trip to Spain. Having carefully planned out each day based on the previous year’s syllabus, Ellen Katz hopes to reconnect with best friend Laurel McKinley, starting on the flight from Georgia to Barcelona with their mostly white class. But awkwardness with Laurel and an unexpected schedule pivot—to a scavenger hunt with an unfamiliar group of students—leave the teen grasping for stability, despite the presence of Ellen’s beloved Abba as a parent chaperone. Facing changing plans and conflicting loyalties, Ellen finds support in family, faith, and new friends, including nonbinary classmate Isa, who is “Latin@.” The first-person narration, studded with Hebrew phrases, sympathetically details Ellen’s experiences of social anxiety and sensory overload while paving a route to friends who don’t blink at Ellen’s accommodations—and around whom Ellen enjoys life as well as feels free to consider gender and sexuality. The story’s beautiful locales and scavenger hunt puzzles frame a heartwarming story about a transitional period in life, conveyed alongside an affirming, incidental portrayal of Ellen’s experiences. Ages 8–12. Agent: Jordan Hamessley, New Leaf Literary.

Starred review from May 13, 2022

Gr 3-7-Ellen Katz is an autistic, queer, Jewish 13-year-old who is spending two weeks on a class trip in Barcelona. She is excited to reconnect with her best friend Laurel, who she hasn't seen much lately. Ellen has looked at the past itinerary for the course and planned out everything she and Laurel will do in Spain. But a surprise group scavenger hunt that puts them in separate groups, throws off all her carefully detailed plans. Even with Abba as a parent chaperone, Ellen needs to face the changes that new friends and new adventures bring. As Ellen works with her new nonbinary classmate, Isa, and gets to know her other teammates, she realizes that maybe it is okay to make new friends and try new things. Even though she misses her time with Laurel, with the help of her new friends, who are supportive of her accommodations, Ellen learns a bit more about herself, her family, and her Jewish faith. Sass's latest book gives readers insight into what it is like to be autistic, sharing how Ellen's brain functions and the coping mechanisms that help her deal with things when they become overwhelming. The text thoughtfully deals with gender identity and fluidity at various levels. VERDICT A heartwarming and inviting book about finding self that hits at the ever-changing (and challenging) world of middle school. Recommended for all middle grade shelves.-Rebekah J. Buchanan

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2022
The incoming eighth-grade Spanish students from Ellen Katz's Georgia prep school take a summer field trip to Barcelona. Ellen, who is autistic, is sometimes overwhelmed by the surprises the trip presents, starting with an unexpected team scavenger hunt. Several parts of the experience lead Ellen to realize that identity isn't always clear-cut, from her father's choice to eat non-kosher food while he's chaperoning to a teammate's use of they/them pronouns. Ellen is a satisfyingly well-rounded character with complex relationships who makes mistakes and learns from them. She figures things out about herself, including trying out an adjustment to her -- or maybe sometimes their -- own pronouns. The presence of multiple queer characters allows for a variety of feelings toward what to share and how big a deal being queer is or isn't. The amazing-to-imagine (if unlikely for most readers) school trip provides an appealing backdrop, but it is the story's interpersonal aspects that are especially welcome. Shoshana Flax

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from March 15, 2022
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* When Ellen Katz signed up for her Georgia private school's trip to Barcelona, she thought she would be spending time with her best friend, Laurel, the only person there who understands Ellen, who is autistic. So when the two are put on separate teams for the trip scavenger hunt, Ellen grows anxious about the widening distance between them. Sure, Ellen could get close to their teammates--Gibs, a white boy with ADHD who's full of jokes; Andy, a kind-hearted Asian boy who broke up with his girlfriend because he's gay; and Isa, a confident new Latinx nonbinary student--but Ellen would rather everything in her world fit into the categories she has already laid out. As Ellen learns to trust their new teammates and love Barcelona, she comes to terms with a new understanding of the world and their own identity, including the choice to use both she/her and they/them pronouns. Sass' (Ana on the Edge, 2020) sophomore novel shines in its nuanced characterizations, subversion of stereotypes, and world that celebrates autism for the joy it brings Ellen when they are happily flapping. A tender, sweet coming-of-age story that brilliantly includes Ellen's autism, LGBTQ+ identity, and Judaism in an engaging, fun scavenger-hunt plot that explores what happens when we take things one day at a time.

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January 1, 2022
The incoming eighth-grade Spanish students from Ellen Katz's Georgia prep school take a summer field trip to Barcelona. Ellen, who is autistic, is sometimes overwhelmed by the surprises the trip presents, starting with an unexpected team scavenger hunt. Several parts of the experience lead Ellen to realize that identity isn't always clear-cut, from her father's choice to eat non-kosher food while he's chaperoning to a teammate's use of they/them pronouns. Ellen is a satisfyingly well-rounded character with complex relationships who makes mistakes and learns from them. She figures things out about herself, including trying out an adjustment to her -- or maybe sometimes their -- own pronouns. The presence of multiple queer characters allows for a variety of feelings toward what to share and how big a deal being queer is or isn't. The amazing-to-imagine (if unlikely for most readers) school trip provides an appealing backdrop, but it is the story's interpersonal aspects that are especially welcome.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)