584 ratings | 205 reviews | avg rating:4.44

A.J.’s Year In Books

A.J.’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at A.J.’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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A.J. Sass’s Followers (293)

A.J.’s Bookshelves

to-read (1840)
currently-reading (3)
read (866)
2019 (98)
2020 (118)
2021 (101)
2022 (97)
2023 (43)
2024 (31)
2025 (14)
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A.J.’s Friends (234)

Stephanie Lucianovic

1,534 books | 208 friends

Ira

1,031 books | 61 friends

Gabe Novoa

1,263 books | 648 friends

Kim

4,004 books | 23 friends

Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books)

1,814 books | 1,242 friends

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1,015 books | 56 friends

Kaitlynn

686 books | 183 friends

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1,056 books | 15 friends

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A.J. Sass

Goodreads Author

Website

https://sassinsf.com

Twitter

matokah

Genre

Contemporary, Children's, Gay and Lesbian

Member Since

July 2007

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/matokah

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A. J. Sass (he/they) is an author whose narrative interests lie at the intersection of identity, neurodiversity, and allyship. He is the critically acclaimed author of the ALA Rainbow Book List Top 10 titles Ellen Outside the Lines, which was also a Sydney Taylor Honor Book, and Ana on the Edge, as well as the co-author of Camp QUILTBAG (with Nicole Melleby). All three books are Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selections.

A. J. is the author of the upcoming middle-grade book Just Shy of Ordinary (Little, Brown, 2024), and a contributor to the This Is Our Rainbow (Knopf Books for Young Readers), Allies (DK/Penguin Random House), and On All Other Nights (Abrams, 2024) anthologies. His debut picture book with illustrator Noa Kelner, Shabbat ...more

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A.J. Sass’s books

Average rating: 4.25 · 5,423 ratings · 1,138 reviews · 8 distinct works • Similar authors

	Ana on the Edge 4.36 avg rating — 1,593 ratings — published 2020 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ellen Outside the Lines 4.32 avg rating — 1,396 ratings — published 2022 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us by Katherine Locke (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Nicole Melleby (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Eric Bell (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 4.14 avg rating — 1,055 ratings — published 2021 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Camp QUILTBAG by Nicole Melleby (Goodreads Author), A.J. Sass (Goodreads Author) 4.10 avg rating — 583 ratings — published 2023 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Allies: Real Talk About Showing Up, Screwing Up, And Trying Again by Shakirah Bourne (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Dana Alison Levy (Goodreads Author) (Editor), I.W. Gregorio (Goodreads Author) 4.32 avg rating — 419 ratings — published 2021 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Just Shy of Ordinary 4.08 avg rating — 421 ratings — published 2024 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Being an Ally by Shakirah Bourne (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Dana Alison Levy (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Derick Brooks (Contributor) 4.05 avg rating — 129 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shabbat Is ... by A.J. Sass (Goodreads Author), Noa Kelner (Illustrator) 4.10 avg rating — 20 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by A.J. Sass…

A.J. is Currently Reading

A.J. is currently reading

The Long Game (Game Changers, #6)

by Rachel Reid

bookshelves: currently-reading, adult, audio, contemporary, lgbtqia, multi-pov, owned, romance

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Jan 17, 2026 09:34AM

A.J. is currently reading

Finding Echoes

by Foz Meadows (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, 2024, adult, fantasy, lgbtqia, owned

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Jan 06, 2026 08:50AM

A.J. is currently reading

Limelight

by Andrew Keenan-Bolger

bookshelves: currently-reading, 2026, arc, agent-sibs, historical, lgbtqia, young-adult

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Sep 05, 2025 01:39PM

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A.J. wants to read The Antiquarian's Object of Desire (Love's Academic, #3) by India Holton (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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A.J. finished reading Role Model (Game Changers, #5) by Rachel Reid	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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A.J. finished reading Common Goal (Game Changers, #4) by Rachel Reid	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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More of A.J.'s books…

Quotes by A.J. Sass (?)

“A year might not feel like a long time, but years add up. Every single one has bought me closer to the person I am now.”
― A.J. Sass, Being an Ally

tags: ally, gender-euphoria, love, non-binary, sentimentalism, transgender, years

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“Not every person fits neatly into categories. Life doesn't always stick to a planned itinerary.”
― A.J. Sass, Ellen Outside the Lines

tags: categories, spontaneity

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“Pretty sure this is it,” Andy says. Isa takes it in. “It looks like…” “… a hot mess,” Gibs finishes. For once, I agree with Gibs. La Pedrera looks like someone threw clay onto a building that dried before it could be smoothed out. It’s the opposite of symmetrical.”
― A.J. Sass, Ellen Outside the Lines

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Polls

What book should we read in March?

As always, you may write in titles, provided the book is a 2025 Newbery contender and already published.

The Misfits #1: A Royal Conundrum by Lisa Yee

29 votes 25.0%

Enigma Girls by Candace Fleming (write-in)

19 votes 16.4%

Shark Teeth by Sherri Winston

18 votes 15.5%

Light and Air by Mindy Nichols Wendell

17 votes 14.7%

The Girl Who Sang: A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival by Estelle Nadel and Bethany Strout Illustrated by Sammy Savos

8 votes 6.9%

Just Shy of Ordinary by A.J. Sass

6 votes 5.2%

Black Girl You Are Atlas by Renee Watson (write-in)

6 votes 5.2%

The Misfits (write-in)

4 votes 3.4%

Light and Air by Mindy Nichols Wendell (write-in)

2 votes 1.7%

Black Girl You are Atlas (write-in)

2 votes 1.7%

Ligh and Air by Mindy Nichols Wendell (write-in)

2 votes 1.7%

Misfits (write-in)

1 vote 0.9%

light and air (write-in)

1 vote 0.9%

Light and Aire by Mindy Nichols Wendell (write-in)

1 vote 0.9%

116 total votes

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