Ana on the Edge

I loved the detailed descriptions so much that I had to snuggle down to read with a blanket, feeling the ice rink's cold. This book took me right back to my youth in San Francisco and my ice skating lessons. The author skillfully executed both the moves and the plot. Ana is an easy-to-love character who is being raised by a single mother. Warning. Don't read when hungry. The food descriptions made me search for a restaurant serving bao near me. The story is not only heartwarming. I love books that are so rich in setting and specific to a location that I feel like I am on a mini-vacation while reading. I look forward to piling up my library with more books by A.J. Sass!

Both for binary and non-binary readers alike, ANA ON THE EDGE offers a timely look into self-actualization from a beautiful, heart-melting point of view. With elegant writing, multifaceted characters, and layer upon layer of love and compassion, Sass expertly pulls readers from every walk of life into a gorgeous story about growing up into your own identity. I’m not much into “sports books,” but I am into *great books.* I learned SO MUCH about ice skating, and between competition and cosplays, I can’t wait to find out what happens to both Ana and her friend, Hayden!

I knew nothing about ice skating at all besides Yuri on Ice but not only was this a wonderful book about a non-binary kid but also made me like immersed and fascinated by ice skating. Overall sweet and ground breaking or should I say... ice breaking ?

ANA ON THE EDGE is a fabulous story of self-discovery. Our main protagonist, Ana, is a passionate skater who finds herself navigating the tricky world of gender identity - made even more complicated by the world of figure skating, which increasingly expects her to conform to a world of sparkles and princesses. Ana is a compelling protagonist, and the book excels in building a cast of fully fleshed supporting characters - her best friend, the intriguing transgender boy who joins her new rink, her skate instructor, and her mom, all creating a world in which Ana can navigate the newly discovered questions about their? her? his? gender identity. I won't give away the ending, but the author avoids many of the tropes that defined early coming out literature, and gives us a fresh perspective on the coming out story and leaves us in the question, rather than wrapping everything up in a neat bow.

This books feels just like it what it is to be a competitive skater in the Bay Area. I know because I was one, albeit a while back. The only part I found kinda unrealistic was when Ana missed a week of practices and then was able to come back the first day and skate a clean run through. Everything else though, from the anxiety over expenses to the selfishness and time-management issues are authentically part of the business of skating. And then there is the identity stuff. I am so relieved because I now better understand what it means to be non-binary. The Venn diagram imagery is so helpful. I can totally relate to Ana as a person on the brink of adulthood working so hard to sort through her stuff.

I could not put this book down! It’s so exciting to see more LGBTQ rep in kidlit, and I especially loved this middle grade story about a 12-year-old trying to figure out their identity. Ana-Marie Jin is the reigning US Juvenile figure skating champion. Over the course of a summer, she transfers to a a new rink and gets a new choreographer, program, and costume. Ana feels uncomfortable with all these changes. Skating to soft music in a sparkly dress isn’t the right fit for her, but she feels conflicted about sharing this with her single mother who works several jobs in order to give Ana the best chance in the figure skating world. After she befriends a trans kid named Hayden, all her feelings about gender come to the surface. Ana doesn’t feel like a girl or a boy. She is relieved when she discovers the term nonbinary, and eventually decides to tell her mom, coach, best friend, and Hayden how she feels. Ana comes up with a brilliant solution that is just the right fit for her new program. I appreciate the class layer in this story as well as the fact that Ana doesn’t have everything figured out by the end of the book. Identity is complex, fluid, and unique to every individual. From the dedication to the final line, ANA ON THE EDGE is a beautiful and genuine story that will help so many kids feel seen.

This book is really all about identity and coming to understand one's self. Especially for middle-grade readers, this can be a crucial time when they learn about their gender-identities, sexualities, things about their true characters. A lot of self-discovery happens as teens enter middle school and then high school. This is why this is EXACTLY the type of book that I want to have in my classroom library. Ana struggles with a lot of things in this book--identity, time management, new and old friends, money worries. There is also a ton of diversity in this book with Hayden, a transgender boy, and Ana--nonbinary, Asian, Jewish, raised by a single mother, AND a vegetarian! I feel like many of my 7th graders would find ways to relate to Ana and the other characters in this novel. Many of them would also have their eyes opened to the myriad ways that people are different from each other and how that makes us all part of TEAM UNIQUE! I love the way that Sass artfully delivers hint after hint foreshadowing Ana's development and understanding of identity and gender in the novel. From the beginning, we start to see Ana's journey and join in the discovery as the pieces come together. Very masterfully written!

I love ice skating, and the details in this book were really fun to sink into. I loved the energy of the skating scenes, and the layers of combining music and costumes and movement into a whole statement. In so many books about competing, the author gets so much into the pressure and competition that you never really get why the character even WANTS to do it in the first place, so in this book I loved how you could really tell the thrill and excitement Ana got from skating. It was also fascinating to sink into Ana's mind as the character struggled with emotion and identity and tried to find a word that fit for how Ana felt. I did get a little frustrated with how many scenes there were where the character had the opportunity to talk with loved ones and then just didn't. That's probably very realistic, but it did get a touch repetitive to read in so many scenes and I wished there was a more external layer to that conflict. It was really lovely in the end to see Ana reaching out to friends and family and feeling more understood. A quick read, 4.5 stars.

In this book, a young competitive figure skater is navigating some big changes and big questions both on and off the ice. As a U.S. Juvenile Champion, Ana-Marie Jin’s skating career is taking off, which means even more intense training, harder jumps and more complex choreography in order to take on the next challenge: Intermediate level competitions. Exciting stuff, but Ana feels that something is off. Could it be the princess routine and costume selected by the new choreographer? Or is there more to it than that? When Ana befriends Hayden, a transgender boy taking skating classes at the training rink (who assumes Ana is a boy), questions about gender identity come to the fore: Does Ana feel more like a boy? A girl? Or somewhere in-between? As Ana tries to please everyone else – mom, coach, old friends and new - the one person losing out is Ana. This is a heartwarming and thoroughly engaging debut about learning what it truly means to be yourself. Don’t miss the author’s note at the end. (Also, the skating scenes are amazing!)

Ana’s exploration of her gender and identity unfurls realistically as we follow her to her new skating rink, where she also has a new teacher, new costume and new friends. In spite of being graceful on the ice, when navigating new and uncomfortable situations, Ana is fumbling and awkward and just such a middle schooler in a way that makes my heart melt. I’m so happy that this book is out in the world so other non-binary kids have an example in Ana of someone finding themselves and, as the cover says, stepping into themselves. Ana starts the story uncomfortable with gender expectations for girls, particularly in her world of competitive ice skating. She doesn't feel quite right in a costume with a skirt or performing as a princess or even just being seen as a girl, but she doesn't really understand her own feelings toward these things. Then she meets someone at skate school who has changed their pronouns from female to male and this turns Ana's internal world upside down, leading her to ask questions and make realizations in a way that comes through very naturally. Sass is great at deep POV and first person narrative, so even a reader who knows very little about the gender specturm and what it means to be non-binary will be able to learn along with the main character.

I loved the detailed descriptions so much that I had to snuggle down to read with a blanket, feeling the ice rink's cold. This book took me right back to my youth in San Francisco and my ice skating lessons. The author skillfully executed both the moves and the plot. Ana is an easy-to-love character who is being raised by a single mother. Warning. Don't read when hungry. The food descriptions made me search for a restaurant serving bao near me. The story is not only heartwarming. I love books that are so rich in setting and specific to a location that I feel like I am on a mini-vacation while reading. I look forward to piling up my library with more books by A.J. Sass!

Both for binary and non-binary readers alike, ANA ON THE EDGE offers a timely look into self-actualization from a beautiful, heart-melting point of view. With elegant writing, multifaceted characters, and layer upon layer of love and compassion, Sass expertly pulls readers from every walk of life into a gorgeous story about growing up into your own identity. I’m not much into “sports books,” but I am into *great books.* I learned SO MUCH about ice skating, and between competition and cosplays, I can’t wait to find out what happens to both Ana and her friend, Hayden!

I knew nothing about ice skating at all besides Yuri on Ice but not only was this a wonderful book about a non-binary kid but also made me like immersed and fascinated by ice skating. Overall sweet and ground breaking or should I say... ice breaking ?

ANA ON THE EDGE is a fabulous story of self-discovery. Our main protagonist, Ana, is a passionate skater who finds herself navigating the tricky world of gender identity - made even more complicated by the world of figure skating, which increasingly expects her to conform to a world of sparkles and princesses. Ana is a compelling protagonist, and the book excels in building a cast of fully fleshed supporting characters - her best friend, the intriguing transgender boy who joins her new rink, her skate instructor, and her mom, all creating a world in which Ana can navigate the newly discovered questions about their? her? his? gender identity. I won't give away the ending, but the author avoids many of the tropes that defined early coming out literature, and gives us a fresh perspective on the coming out story and leaves us in the question, rather than wrapping everything up in a neat bow.