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Ode to My First Car

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

A YA contemporary sapphic romance told in verse, by the critically praised author of A Million Quiet Revolutions, about a bisexual teen girl who falls in and out of love over the course of one fateful summer.

It's the summer before senior year and Claire Kemp, a closeted bisexual, is finally starting to admit she might be falling in love with her best friend, Sophia, who she's known since they were four.


Trying to pay off the fine from the crash that totals her beloved car, Lars, Claire takes a job at the local nursing home up the street from her house, where she meets Lena, an eighty-eight-year-old lesbian woman who tells her stories about what it was like growing up as gay in the 1950s and 60s.


As Claire spends more time with Lena and grows more confident of her identity, another girl, Pen, comes into the picture, and Claire is caught between two loves—one familiar and well-worn, the other new and untested.

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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      April 17, 2023
      Bisexual 17-year-old Claire Kemp’s summer plans—escaping her family’s cramped apartment in Trappe, Pa., to hang out with her transgender best friend and secret crush Sophia—are dashed when she totals Lars, her beloved first car. To pay off fines from the crash, she starts working at a local nursing home, where she meets 85-year-old lesbian Lena. As Lena recounts stories from her own past that help Claire feel more confident in her queerness, Claire begins dating classmate Pen. She hopes that their budding romance will lead to her much-anticipated “sexual debut” and also help her get over her feelings for Sophia. But Sophia’s own new relationship with a controlling boy means she has less time for Claire, causing their friendship to fray. Meanwhile, familial conflicts surrounding whether or not Claire and her brother Chris, who is gay, should come out to their parents put a damper on Claire’s summer. Gow (Dear Mothman) thoughtfully unpacks a variety of issues, including economic anxiety, guilt, and identity exploration via empathetic verse poems narrated by Claire to Lars. Though its many through lines don’t always cohere, this is a sweet, encouraging read with a big heart. Major characters read as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jordan Hamessley, New Leaf Literary.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:690
  • Text Difficulty:3

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