The In-Between Bookstore

A whimsical and healing novel about a trans man in New York who–almost 30,laid offbroke–moves back to his small Illinois hometownwalks into the bookstore he worked at in high school. . . and slips through time to come face-to-face with his pre-transitionteenage self. If you had one chance to talk to your younger self…would you? What would you say? When Darby left Oak Falls for college in NYCall he wanted was to get as far away as possiblefind a community where he could start fresh–and finally forget about his childhood best friend Michaeland just how painfully their friendship ended. Nowabout to turn thirtyDarby suddenly finds himself unemployed. With no better alternativeand questioning where he really belongshe moves back to his hometown. But the changes in Oak Falls–the planned community with his mother’s new town homethe trendy coffee shop–make him feel off balance. And Michael’s still heretheir relationship still distant and strained. Even though they’ve both changed. One thing is familiar: In Between BooksDarby’s refuge growing up and eventual high school job. When he walks into the bookstore nowDarby feels an eerie sense of d├⌐j├á vu–everything is exactly the same. Even the newspapers are dated 2009. And behind the register is a teen who looks a lot like Darby did at sixteen. . . who just might give Darby the opportunity to change his own present for the better–if he can figure out how before his connection to the past vanishes forever. The In-Between Bookstore is a stunning novel of loveself-discoveryand the choices that come with bothfor anyone who has ever wondered what their life might be like if they had the chance to go back and take a biggerbraver risk.