This June, BookSwell’s Read Local SoCal pick is Before You Can Fly by Jase Peeples, a Southern California author whose new young adult novel takes readers back to 1980s California, where fifteen-year-old Clayton Wheeler is figuring out who he loves, who he can trust, and how to survive a stepfather and a town that have already decided he is the wrong kind of boy. Released May 8 from Evernight Teen and called by Kirkus “a coming-of-age LGBTQ+ novel rich in both emotion and insight,” it’s a tender, hard-edged, deeply nostalgic story about found family, first love, and the long road to being seen. We’re reading it together this month, and we invite you to read along.
About the book
Clayton prefers comic books to sports and likes Wonder Woman, which his stepfather James calls a sign that he’s a “sissy.” He’s a regular target for the jocks who bombard him with homophobic slurs at school. When his old friend Derek Barlow returns to town after a few years in New York, something between them shifts. Derek isn’t quite the boy Clayton remembers, but the closeness they once shared hasn’t faded, and Clayton starts to wonder if it could become more.
Around them is a small constellation of people who keep Clayton company while he figures out who he is: Ronee Jones, the fashion-obsessed best friend who takes guff from no one; Alister McNamara, the aspiring comic book artist; and Betty Hernandez, the tenderhearted woman behind the counter at the local 7-Eleven where Clayton goes to buy comics and to be himself.
“Peeples’ multilayered characters give this earnest story real depth… A coming-of-age LGBTQ+ novel rich in both emotion and insight.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Genre: Young Adult, LGBTQ+ Romance. Setting: 1980s California. Themes: coming out, bullying, found family, first love, comic-book nerd-dom.
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Meet Jase Peeples
Jase Peeples is an award-winning journalist, author, and storyteller who is the former entertainment editor of The Advocate and currently works as a features and global news editor at RVO Health. His debut novel, TWIRL (Evernight Teen), and his first children’s book, Square Zair Pair, are available worldwide. Before You Can Fly is his second young adult novel.
Jase is no stranger to BookSwell. He joined Cody Sisco on BookSwell Intersections for episode 24 to talk about TWIRL, color guard, first love, and the power of representation in fiction for queer youth and families. If you want to know more about how Jase writes about young queer characters, the episode is worth a listen before you crack open this one.
You can also find him on his author site at jasepeeples.com and on Instagram at @jasepeeples.
A note from Cody: “Jase knows how to convey gay teenage angst while delivering an uplifting story. It’s a balancing act that I greatly admire. I’m so proud of my friend and his publishing successes.”
Read along with us
Every Read Local SoCal feature includes a discussion guide we send by email, designed to help book clubs and solo readers go deeper on the book’s themes and craft. Get the free discussion guide for Before You Can Fly — drop your email below and we’ll send it.
Companion reads
If Before You Can Fly lands for you, here are five queer coming-of-age novels we recommend pairing it with — Jase’s own debut, the historical queer YA tradition Before You Can Fly sits inside, and a contemporary counterpoint. All links go through Bookshop.org to support indie bookstores.
More from Jase Peeples
TWIRL by Jase Peeples
Ethan is a senior on the reigning champion Landon High School Color Guard, a straight-A student, and an all-around perfectionist. His family may be too busy to notice, but he plans to make history by spinning his way to another gold medal at nationals. For Ethan, senior year is all about the wins—if he can get his love life out of last place.
Danny just slid into the DMs of his long-time crush, Ethan. It’s a bold move, but Danny’s been determined to make the most of life since he came out. He’s even patched up his relationship with his two adoptive dads, and his team, the East Valley Color Guard, is about to debut their fiercest show yet. Danny’s never been happier, so why is he desperately searching for his biological mother—and why the secrecy?
When Danny and Ethan start dating, their connection feels unbreakable. But as the pressure of nationals mounts, their teams’ rivalry intensifies. The line between love and competition blurs, and both must decide what they’re willing to sacrifice—victory, love, or their long-hidden secrets.
For discussion: Before You Can Fly and TWIRL both pair a queer first-love story with a specific subcultural world (comic books / color guard). What does Peeples convey about how teenagers find themselves through what they love?
Historical queer YA
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
El Paso, 1987. Two Mexican-American teenagers, an unlikely friendship, a quiet love story that keeps surprising you. The closest thematic cousin to Before You Can Fly we know of.
For discussion: What does each book do with the distance between knowing what you feel and being able to say it?
We Are Lost and Found by Helene Dunbar
New York City, 1983. A gay teenager and his two best friends chase music, identity, and meaning in the early shadow of the AIDS crisis. A novel that holds 80s queer adolescence with the same tenderness Peeples does, while widening the lens to include the larger crisis Clayton’s story keeps at the edges.
For discussion: Both books treat the 1980s as a specific historical era, not a generic past. What does each get out of being set when and where it is?
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
San Francisco, 1954. A young Chinese-American woman discovers a queer bar, a girl, and the version of herself she’s always been. Different decade, same delicate first-love magic, and a reminder that the tradition of historical queer YA is multi-ethnic, multi-coastal, and long. National Book Award winner.
For discussion: These three historical novels — and Before You Can Fly — return to a specific earlier moment rather than the present. What does each historical setting convey about queer adolescence that a contemporary setting couldn’t?
Contemporary queer YA
The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
Contemporary London. Michael, a mixed-race gay teen — Greek-Cypriot and Jamaican — finds the words for who he is when he discovers the Drag Society. A coming-of-age verse novel that won the Stonewall Award and was named one of Time‘s Best YA Books of All Time.
For discussion: Both novels track a queer teenager toward a transformation — Clayton through his comic-book outline becoming something larger, Michael through drag becoming the Black Flamingo. What does each book convey about the moment a private identity goes public?
The soundtrack
Jase Peeples’ official “Life Soundtrack” featuring songs mentioned in Before You Can Fly:
- “Faith” — George Michael (1987)
- “It’s a Sin” — Pet Shop Boys (1987)
- “Tell It to My Heart” — Taylor Dayne (1987)
- “The Promise” — When in Rome (1988)
- “Walk Like an Egyptian” — The Bangles (1986)
- “Into the Groove” — Madonna (1985)
- “All Fired Up” — Pat Benatar (1988)
- “The Pleasure Principle” — Janet Jackson (1986)
- “How Will I Know” — Whitney Houston (1985)
- “Sweet Child O’ Mine” — Guns N’ Roses (1988)
How to participate
- Follow along on Instagram. We post Read Local SoCal content on @bookswellclub throughout the month — author spotlights, pull quotes, and reader shoutouts.
- Tag us in your reading. Post a photo of the book, a favorite line, or your read-along setup, tag @bookswellclub and use #ReadLocalSoCal. We boost reader posts all month.
- Tag the author. Jase reads what comes in. Tag @jasepeeples when you post and let him know what landed for you.
- Find us on Facebook. If Instagram isn’t your home, follow BookSwell on Facebook. Same content, slightly different crowd.
About Read Local SoCal
Read Local SoCal is BookSwell’s year-long campaign connecting readers in Southern California with local authors — particularly Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latinx, LGBTQ+, women, nonbinary, and indie writers. Each month spotlights one book by one author. We provide a free discussion guide, recommend companion reads, and amplify the readers, book clubs, and creators who are already lifting these books up. The program runs through mid-November, with a new featured book on the first of every month.
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