In The Unpoetic Life of August Grey, Pushcart Prize-nominated poet Max Fischer
delivers a novel-in-verse about grief, first love and the joy of becoming one’s true self.
The book will premiere on Oct. 20 by Scholastic Press.
Seventeen-year-old August Grey is a closeted trans teen struggling to find his place
in a small Nebraska town. His relationships with his estranged parents and friends
are fraught with tension, and the only people with whom he has shared his true
identity are his close friend Levi and Waylon, a friend he knows online in New
York. Neither conversation goes as he had hoped, and when Waylon dies shortly
afterward, August’s world is shattered.
When August earns a coveted spot in a prestigious New York City summer writing
program, he sees it as a chance to move forward from Waylon’s death and
overcome the writer’s block that has followed. Leaving behind his strained home
life and complicated friendship with Levi, August arrives in New York envisioning
a summer filled with poetry, friendship, and authenticity. Instead, he finds himself
navigating unexpected challenges as he struggles to discover his voice, embrace his
identity, and imagine a future for himself.
Fischer is a transgender Pushcart Prize nominated poet and nonfiction writer who holds an
MFA in writing for children and young adults. His work focuses on queer joy told through the lens of unconventional narrative structures and the merging of poetry, fiction and nonfiction. The Unpoetic Life of August Grey is his debut novel.
–From staff reports