Symptoms of Being Human

A teenager reveals anxieties about personal identity issues in “one of the first YA books to deal with the complex issue of gender fluidity.”*

A Lambda Literary Award Finalist

An ALA Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

A Rainbow Book List selection

Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock. Snarky. Rebellious. And gender fluid. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl. But Riley isn''t exactly out yet. And between starting a new school and having a congressman father running for reelection in über-conservative Orange County, the pressure—media and otherwise—is building up in Riley''s life.

On the advice of a therapist, Riley starts an anonymous blog to vent those pent-up feelings and tell the truth of what it''s really like to be a gender fluid teenager. But just as Riley''s starting to settle in at school—even developing feelings for a mysterious outcast—the blog goes viral, and an unnamed commenter discovers Riley''s real identity, threatening exposure. And Riley must make a choice: walk away from what the blog has created—a lifeline, new friends, a cause to believe in—or stand up, come out, and risk everything.

From debut author Jeff Garvin comes a powerful and uplifting portrait of a modern teen struggling with high school, relationships, and what it means to be a person.

“A beautiful new addition to the queer YA canon.” —New York Times–bestselling author Robin Talley

“Riley’s emotional life and personal growth shed welcome light on a hitherto obscure subject.” —*Booklist (starred review)

“Both highly entertaining and highly necessary, Symptoms is the kind of book that makes you a better human for having read it.” —Dahlia Adler, author of Under the Lights