Title: A Million Quiet Revolutions
Author: Robin Gow
Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Publishing
Publication date: March 22, 2022
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Bookshop.org | Book Depository | Goodreads | StoryGraph
Summary
Aaron and Oliver have shared a lot together. As two of the few queer teens in their small towns, they were a lot of each other’s firsts. They came out as trans to each other, finding their first binders, finding new names. And now, they might just be falling for each other.
However, before their new romantic relationship can fully blossom, Aaron moves away. The two promise to keep in touch despite the distance with written letters. Like Oliver’s inspirations from queer history, specifically the Revolutionary War. They are each other’s solace and comfort. However, as they grow up in different places, will their love stay strong? Or will they start to drift apart?
Review: A Million Quiet Revolutions
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s for an advanced copy of this to review! Immediately drawn in by the cover, I knew this was a book that needed to be on my radar. And for good reason! I don’t think there’s another book quite like it in the YA market, and it is the perfect time for it.
To start, this is a novel in verse, which I definitely didn’t realize before picking it up. But no matter! I absolutely love novels in verse. For Aaron and Oliver’s story, I also think it works really well. There’s an entire section in the middle that is basically told just from their letters, and it’s beautifully done. The formatting also helps in distinquishing between their voices when we get different points of view.
Even though this is a novel in verse, you still get incredible emotion from the main characters, which isn’t always easy to do. You come to care about them as you read, rooting for them to make it, to be together. They’re just two queer teens trying to figure themselves out, and what a wonderful journey it is.
Finally, one of my favorie things about this is Oliver’s determination to find queer people throughout history is inspiring. And also enlightening. You know there were LGBTQ+ people at every moment of important history, but too often their stories are silenced. And Oliver wants to make sure they get told, which is it’s own kind of revolution in itself.
All in all, if you love emotional, moving novels in verse, this is definitely one you should pick up at the end of the month!
4.5/5 stars