Girlmode

Phoebe and her father have just moved to LA, so she has to get used to a new high school -- at the same time that she's starting to figure out how to be a girl, having just transitioned.

This is a refreshingly positive trans story. It is not about the horrors of transphobia, of which there is little -- the kids of the school are generally friendly and accepting. But it's very much about the experience of rebuilding one's life with little clue about the new world one has dived into.

Phoebe meets lots of people her first day, but particularly Ben -- ringleader of the local geeks, who is more than happy to find a new girl geek to game with -- and Mackenzie -- perfectly-coiffed leader of the "popular girls", who decides to adopt Phoebe as a project and teach her how to be a successful girl.

Problem is, Ben and Mackenzie not-so-cordially hate each other, and think each other are pretty toxic. And they're not entirely wrong about that: they both have their own problems, and while both of them very much like Phoebe, they have their own egos and agendas in play here.

So even as Phoebe takes to her makeover brilliantly, winding up as one of the most popular girls in the school, she has to navigate the reality that no one necessarily cares about what she wants in all of this. The road to figuring that out isn't always easy.

Content warning: while there isn't any transphobia to speak of, the story does contain a fair amount of pretty awful performative allyship, and more than a few micro-aggressions -- it's not entirely sweetness and light. But it's a wonderfully honest look at how things can go, even when everyone is supposedly on your side.

Fun book, good for both teens and adults who like well-written YA.