Opting Out

By: Maia Kobabe

Published by Graphix, 2026-05-05

From the award-winning author/illustrator of GENDER QUEER and a bright new talent, the story of a kid named Saachi, who is navigating friendship woes, sister issues, a new crush, and a resistance to blue-and-pink binaries. Bodies are the worst. I wish I didn't have a body. Saachi is a storyteller. At school, she's surrounded by kids she's known forever -- including her best friend, Lyla, who shares Saachi's love of fantasy novels and creating new worlds. But as seventh grade starts, kids are changing. Suddenly, it matters who you like and if you can find a boyfriend or girlfriend. Even Lyla seems more interested in hanging out with her new boyfriend than in writing and drawing with Saachi anymore. Saachi's not interested in any of that boy/girl stuff. Why can't things just stay the way they were? Saachi also doesn't love all the ways her body is changing. What if she doesn't feel like a girl -- or like a boy, either? In a world where there is so much either/or, Saachi is going to need to find her own options . . . and create her own story.