OLIVIA GRAY WILL NOT FADE AWAY
by Ciera Burch
Available now
Things are weird for Olivia as she starts seventh grade. Her parents are supportive of her older brother Malcolm coming out as gay, but she doesn't really understand why it's a big deal to be identified by who you like. Her friend group has moved from talking about their personal interests to the cutest boy in school, and the group chat has even moved to KruSsh: a social app focused on rumors and secrets. And when Olivia goes viral for inadvertently rejecting said cutest boy in school right before the fall formal, things start getting weird. As in, "she literally starts to vanish into thin air" weird.
From her brother spending all his time with his new boyfriend to her friend group drifting away, Olivia starts to feel invisible. Then she starts to be invisible. Talking to the new school librarian and Jules, a similarly-invisible classmate and fan of Olivia's favorite art streamer, starts to help. But their behests for her to study up on what it means to be asexual only frustrate her. Rather than be viewed as "broken," Olivia decides to blend in... but doing so just makes her problems worse.
Olivia Gray Will Not Fade Away covers an aspect of growing up and finding your identity that previous generations never had to deal with: the idea of feeling invisible in multiple spaces. Older confidants, no matter how understanding they may be, didn't had to grow up in a world with social media: a whole extra battleground on which to chase popularity and feel excluded. Similarly, the book shows that being supportive and informed isn't always enough, and we can't train ourselves to be perfectly empathetic. It's a strong metaphor for a situation I personally don't have experience with, but one that resonates nonetheless.
TEA PAIRING: Wonderland Tea Party
Between Olivia's artistic tendencies and her desperate attempts to be seen, this colorful, color-changing tea felt right. It contains fruit, citrus, and butterfly pea flower, changing from pale purple to brilliant burgundy as it steeps. Use my code KARA15 for 15% off this and other teas from Chapters Tea & Co.!
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