Review: Obie Is Man Enough

Title: Obie Is Man Enough

Author: Schuyler Bailar

Publisher: Random House Children’s

Publication date: September 7, 2021

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Summary

After being forced to leave his swim team due to his transition, Obie is a bit lost. He basically has to start over on a new team, but that might help him to find where he actually belongs. Despite everything, Obie tries his best to get his old coach and his old team out of his head and just focus on swimming.

However, bullies at school make that difficult. Luckily for Obie, he has a strong support system both at school and at home. With his friends, teachers, and family, he’s able to work through his difficulties and prove he is just as good as the other boys in the water. And maybe even make moves with his first crush. But first, Obie has to work through his own insecurities.

Review: Obie Is Man Enough

Trigger warnings: bullying, transphobia, outing

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Books for an advanced copy of this to review! I saw it on NetGalley and it definitely caught my eye. One of my goals is to read more middle grade LGBTQ books, and this fit that bill. And I’m happy to say I really enjoyed this one!

At the start, the writing feels a little rocky, since it’s a debut. But Bailar hits his stride about halfway through the book and Obie’s voice really shines through. In fact, Bailar nails Obie’s voice in this book. Part of this story is Obie finding his voice, gaining confidence and learning that he truly does have an amazing support system in place. It was great seeing a school that takes such swift action against bullying, becuase you don’t always see that in fiction.

While there is a lot of transphobia and bullying in this book (which is noted with a content warning in the beginning), it’s balanced well with Obie’s friends, parents, and teachers. They want to do what’s best for Obie, and I loved seeing that. His new friends on his new swim team absolutely have his back. There are so many of these great relationships in this book, and I would absolutely read this just for those. Plus, Obie learns to find his voice in writing, and this balances out the swimming really well in this book.

Obie is also part Korean, and his scenes with his grandma are so heartwarming. They make kimchi and talk about Korea, and these scenes are beautiful. There’s so much to love about this book, honestly!

The only reason this isn’t getting a full five stars is because the writing is shaky in a few places. But you can definitely see potential! I can’t wait to see what else Bailar comes out with, because this is a voice that needs to be heard in middle grade books.

4.5/5 stars