Listen to Me

The Way I Used to Be meets Saints and Misfits in this unflinching young adult novel about two neurodivergent girls grappling with what justice looks like after their community rallies around a popular athlete accused of rape. From Schneider Family Book Award Honor-winning author Meg Eden Kuyatt.

Prue has her future planned out. She’s already made her school’s Varsity lacrosse team, and she’s on track to impress the scouts who are eager to see her play. She’s also doing her best to be patient with her church’s purity sermons, her judgmental mom, and her pushy best friend, Lotus—they all mean well, after all.

Lotus has an answer for everything. And as a journalist on the school paper, she’ll dig for the answer to anything she doesn’t already know. She’s also armed with a recent autism diagnosis that’s given her newfound insight into herself and the world around her. And Lotus even has a new crush—on a lacrosse player named Dash. Maybe this will be the year she’ll be brave enough to act on it.

Then something unthinkable happens: A boy sexually assaults Prue. And it’s Dash.

In an impulsive rage, Lotus uses her journalism account to call him out. The story quickly goes viral, and with it come unexpected consequences for both girls. As Prue’s desire for normalcy clashes with Lotus’ thirst for justice, they’ll have to find a way to navigate their crumbling friendship and discover what true allyship—and consent—look like.