Mason Deaver

Biography 

Mason Deaver is a bestselling and award-winning young-adult novelist. Deaver uses they/them pronouns and identifies as nonbinary. Their books have received high starred reviews from Booklist and Publisher's Weekly. They have been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards and won the Pink News' Best Young Adult Book award and were included on Cosmopolitan's 100 Best YA Books. Deaver currently lives in San Francisco where they work on many young-adult novels. Deaver started their career in writing within the past five years. They produced their first book in 2019, I Wish You All The Best. (4)

Deaver's work explores themes of depression and anxiety that are not common in many young-adult novels. They write stories that are truthful and authentic to represent the struggles of the LBGTQ+ community. Throughout the books, Deaver uses the art of making one feel/relate to the characters in their novels. It is said, "It has the feeling of work from an expert writer that has been crafting world-beating pieces for years." Just like most authors, they have authors that have had a huge impact on their writing career. In history, the most influential queer author was Becky Albertalli and Meridith Russo. Russo's novel, If I Was Your Girl, was the first depiction of a trans lead character who got what they deserved and had a happy ending. This novel gave them the inspiration to write something similar. 

I Wish You All The Best (2019) 

In this novel, you are introduced to the main character, Ben De Backer, a non-binary teenager who is kicked out of their parent's home when they come out to their parents. Ben moves in with their estranged sister and brother-in-law and starts going to a new school. At this school, Ben starts the journey of self-discovery, acceptance, and healing. Ben's struggles with their identity and anxiety are portrayed with honesty. They struggle with the fear of rejection and the pain of being disowned by their parents. Deaver captures the raw emotion Ben is experiencing, making the reader empathize with Ben and their situation. Deaver shines a light on Ben's situation and leaves a lasting impact on the reader. This novel shows themes of building new relationships, exploring love and acceptance, and embracing identity and healing. In an interview with Robbie Couch, author of If I See You Again states "This book gives an honest look at the harm inflicted on nonbinary teens today, but it uses a beautiful romance to show why that bigotry will never be greater than the love teens deserve" (5)   

The Ghosts We Keep (2021) 

*Trigger- talks about suicidal ideation and self-harm* 

This book is about grief. But it is only about why we live. Why we move on and why we should.  In this novel, Liam Cooper, a non-binary teenager, struggles to keep their life together after their older brother is killed in a hit-and-run. Liam has to not only learn to face the world without one of the people they loved the most but face the fading relationship with their two best friends, Joel, a trans, bisexual Vietnamese American, and brown skinned, bisexual musician Vanessa. Feeling alone and isolated, Liam finds themself sharing time with Marcus, their brother's best friend. (3) Through Marcus, Liam finds the one person that seems to know exactly what they're going through, for the better and for the worse. Liam's anger, guilt, and loneliness creates answers to the questions Liam confronts but their reactions have lasting consequences. "I still found it so much easier to discuss frozen yogurt instead of my dead brother". Liam's hard-won hope makes for an emotional journey. (6) This novel earned a starred review from Booklist as well as praise from Publishers Weekly. 

The Feeling of Falling in Love (2022)

In the novel, Just days before spring break, Neil Kearney, whom is transgender, is set to fly across the country with his childhood friend (his current friend-with-benefits) Josh, to attend his brother's wedding until Josh tells Neil that he's in love with him and Neil doesn't in return. With Josh still attending the wedding, Neil now needs to find a new date to bring along. his roommate Wyatt was drafted, almost against his will. At the beginning, Wyatt thinks Neil is acting like a jerk but when they arrive in LA, Wyatt sees more of where the attitude is coming from. Slowly they begin to understand one another and they might just fall in love for the first time. This story was the third book Deaver had published. (2) Through this story, Deaver expresses the emphasis of Neil being transgender and in an interview, Deaver states " Neil's relationship to his body is a story that mirrors mine and many other trans people's stories. There's this idea that surgery is a magical fix for trans people or that it is this necessary party of transitioning and that once you've gotten it, all your dysphoria vanishes -- when that couldn't be further from the truth. Some trans people want surgery and nothing can be more affirming... I very much wanted to explore how different trans experiences can be. Neil is at a place in his journey where he wanted top surgery but not bottom surgery, where he was offered the chance to cover his scars but decided they're a point of pride for him. He's very proud of his trans body and he likes who he is, for the most part." (1) 

Mason Deaver is a really inspirational author in my opinion. I think they write about their experiences and it allows for young adults to have something to relate to if they are going through this. From the three books I have reviewed, I would love to read all three. They are all similar but different at the same time. They explore the life of LGBTQ teenagers and I think that is not expressed enough. Many authors/people in general think that if we write about such lives then they are encouraging these young adults to identify as something. It is important to educate these young adults, whether it be through fictional characters or not. 

Citations

Bookpage Interview with Mason Deaver. feeling. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024. (1)

Goodreads The Feeling of Falling in Love. www.goodreads.com/book/show/58719208-the-feeling-of-falling-in-love. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024. (2)

Goodreads The Ghosts We Keep. www.goodreads.com/book/show/49439243-the-ghosts-we-keep. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024. (3)

Mason Deaver - About Me. www.masondeaverwrites.com/about. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024. (4)

New York Times -- Blinklist. www.nytimes.com/2023/06/15/books/review/lgbtq-ya-books-authors.html?searchResultPosition=1. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024. (5)

Publisher Weekly The Ghosts We Keep. www.publishersweekly.com/9781338593341. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024. (6)