When I first read the description for this book--it covers autism, gender identity, navigating friendships AND a school trip to a foreign country and I thought, it's too much! How could you ever? But Ellen Outside the Lines manages all that and more in this sweetly honest MG story. Learning how to be the person you will become isn't a smooth path and Ellen's journey shows those early teen upheavals with grace.

I rarely connect with MG stories because the world in the story feels so different from the one I grew up through. But here in Barcelona ( a place I've never been) I found a story that sounded like the uncertain childhood I remember.

Side note: The way tech and group chat texting is incorporated into this book is *chef's kiss*