If This Gets Out

In Sophie Gonzales's and Cale Dietrich's captivating and surprisingly raw novel, If This Gets Out, 18-year-olds Ruben Montez and Zach Knight are two of four members in the famous pop group Saturday.

Gay and Hispanic Ruben and bisexual and white Zach fall deeply in love while on tour promoting their new album. When they reveal their relationship to their record label, the executives tell them to keep their sexual identities and relationship under wraps for the time being. As the tour continues, the band manager keeps Ruben and Zach apart during on-stage choreography and prohibits interview questions that hint at their increasingly flirtatious behavior. All four members of the band are accustomed to their actions and appearances being tightly controlled by the label--not only is their squeaky-clean image part of their popularity, but also band mate Angel's alcohol and drug addiction results in dangerous, erratic behavior. When the teens realize that their label doesn't intend to support them after all, they are forced to decide whether they will lie to maintain the band's façade or come out publicly and face social and professional risks.

Gonzales (Perfect on Paper) and Dietrich (The Love Interest) encapsulate the all-consuming nature of young queer love. The chapters alternate between Ruben's and Zach's narration, poignantly highlighting their contrasting queer journeys: Ruben has known he's gay for years while Zach newly accepted his bisexuality and is hesitant to come out. Ruben notes, "Part of me wants to protect him from the realities of what it means to be queer, and how it changes things in a million subtle ways." The authors' story resonates with intensity as the celebrity teens gain agency and find their own voices. --Kieran Slattery, freelance reviewer, teacher, co-creator of Gender Inclusive Classrooms

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