Between Perfect and Real: A Novel

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 SelectionDean 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 Ray 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 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 nownot 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 were all trying to figure out who weve been, who we are, and who we want to be. A beautiful read. Daisy Eagan, writer and Tony Awardwinning actor Dean Foster knows that he’s a trans man. 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. Maybe he can just wait to openly transition until he’s off at college. Besides, he's got enough to worry about: He’s cast as Romeo in the school play (in what the theater teacher thinks is an interesting gender swap), he’s falling in love with Zoe, and he's applying to the NYU theater program. It’s not everything, but it’s pretty good. But playing a boy 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. Emboldened by stepping out on the stage as Romeo each day and the trans youth support group he's started attending, he knows what he needs to do. The only question remains: can he try to achieve everything he needs without losing all he has? Dean Foster has watched enough YouTube videos and done enough questioning to be sure he's a trans guy. 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. 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. Can playing a role help Dean be his true self? -- adapted from jacket After being cast as Romeo in the school play, Dean realizes he wants everyone to see him as he really is, a male, and not just play one on the stage, despite the risk of losing everything