Between Perfect and Real

Between Perfect and RealRay Stoeves Between Perfect and Real is a moving YA debut about a trans boy finding his voiceand himself. A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection Dean Foster knows hes a trans guy. Hes watched enough YouTube videos and done enough questioning to be sure. But everyone at his high school thinks hes a lesbianincluding his girlfriend, Zoe, and his theater director, who just cast him as a nontraditional Romeo. He wonders if maybe it would be easier

Ray Stoeve’s Between Perfect and Real is a moving YA debut about a trans boy finding his voice—and himself.
 
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
 
Dean Foster knows he’s a trans guy. He’s watched enough YouTube videos and done enough questioning to be sure. But everyone at his high school thinks he’s a lesbian—including his girlfriend, Zoe, and his theater director, who just cast him as a “nontraditional” Romeo. He wonders if maybe it would be easier to wait until college to come out.
 
But as he plays Romeo every day in rehearsals, Dean realizes he wants everyone to see him as he really is now––not just on the stage, but everywhere in his life. Dean knows what he needs to do. Can playing a role help Dean be his true self?
 
“Perfectly captures the roller-coaster ride of being a queer high school senior.  Stoeve gives voice to the heartbreaks and triumphs of regular kid life in that time when we’re all trying to figure out who we’ve been, who we are, and who we want to be. A beautiful read.” —Daisy Eagan, writer and Tony Award–winning actor