James, a senior in high school, channels his energy into aiding a struggling LGBTQ+ youth support group and going to punk shows with his friends, until he falls for Orsino, a telepathic trans boy whose visions of impending doom challenge James's limited perception of what is possible.
Boldly weird, cool, and confident, this YA novel of LGBTQ+ teen artists, activists, and telepathic visionaries offers hope against climate and community destruction. From the National Book Awardlonglisted author of Out of Salem.
James Goldberg, self-described neurotic goth gay transsexual stoner, is a senior in high school, and fully over it. He mostly ignores his classes at Cow Pie High, instead focusing on fundraising for the near-bankrupt local LGBTQ+ youth support group, Compton House, and attending punk shows with his friend-crush Ian and best friend Opal. But when James falls in love with Orsino, a homeschooled trans boy with telepathic powers and visions of the future, he wonders if the scope of what he believes possible is too small. Orsino, meanwhile, hopes that in James he has finally found someone who will be able to share the apocalyptic visions he has had to keep to himself, and better understand the powers they hold.
How to Get over the End of the World confirms Hal Schrieve as a unique and to-be-celebrated voice in LGBTQ+ YA fiction with this multi-voiced story about flawed people trying their hardest to make a better world, about the beauty and craziness of hope, about too-big dreams and reality checks, and about the ways in which human messinessegos, jealousy, insecurityand good faith can coexist. It also about preserving the ties within a chosen familyand maybe saving the worldthrough love, art, and acts of resistance.
