Leah On the Offbeatby Becky Albertalli, $13, Amazon It’s hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting - especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high.

So Leah really doesn’t know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. And even though her mom knows she’s bisexual, she hasn’t mustered the courage to tell her friends. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. An anomaly in her friend group, she’s the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. And some of the most powerful moments in the book come from reading the subtleties of Leah's social anxiety - and watching her journey to true self-confidence.įor those unaware, here's the plot: When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat - but real life isn’t always so rhythmic.

Her characters are so undeniably real, going through the transitions of figuring out just who exactly you are in ways that feel instantly relatable. And there are so many reasons why that feeling is justfied: Albertalli's latest release continues her penchant for sensitive, insightful writing that gets right to the heart of identity and growth, capturing it all with heartfelt, hilarious, emotional clarity. Fans of both the book and film have been rabid for more from the Simon-verse, and with the release of Leah on the Offbeat- which centers on Simon Spier's best friend Leah Burke but includes Simon and other supporting characters we know and love - the response was universal elation. the Homosapiens Agenda became a veritable phenomenon when the film version, Love, Simon, was released in March.

Becky albertalli leah on the offbeat