BOOK LAUNCH: The Boy Maeve by Kai Ash

Join us for to celebrate the launch of Kai Ash's debut YA novel, The Boy Maeve.

Kai will be joined in conversation by Margi Brown Ash to talk about how the book came about and draw out the strong themes of family.

You can pre-order a copy HERE.

About the book:

He only knows two things for sure: his name is Maeve and he’s a boy.

It’s 2002, and fourteen-year-old Maeve – an adopted, closeted trans boy – is facing another lonely year at school. At least he’s got Jeremy, his lifelong imaginary friend, for company. But even Jeremy, in all their wild wisdom, can’t explain the weird things that are happening to Maeve. 

Like why Maeve’s hair spontaneously changes colour overnight. Or how Maeve knows his granny Beattie is dead, long before anyone can confirm it. Or why a stranger’s voice sounds uncannily familiar … 

Maeve is full of questions – about his birth family and adoption, about Beattie and Jeremy, and about himself. But the answers are out of this world … and Maeve may have to give up everything he’s ever known to discover the truth.

For fans of Margo Lanagan and Alison Evans comes this dazzling, beguiling novel about a trans boy, his adopted family, and the search for self-acceptance, from extraordinary debut author Kai Ash.

Perfect for YA readers who love:

• Queer stories exploring identity and coming out

• Immersive spec-fic and Gaelic mythology

• Own-voices LGBTQI+ novels

• Stories about adoptive and biological families

• Juicy fiction to discuss in book clubs and classrooms

About the author:

Kai Ash was raised in Yuggera country (Brisbane region, Queensland), where he grew up amid bush-covered ranges. Once he was old enough, he set off to explore the world: Czechia, the Palestinian Territories, Israel, New Zealand, Spain and Scotland. He studied gender, language, law and psychology before returning home again. Kai’s work has been shortlisted in The Ampersand Prize, Adaptable, Lane Cove Literary Awards and Melbourne Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Awards, and he was a mentee in the CA/ASA Award Mentorship Program. The Boy Maeve is his first published novel.