Ellen Outside the Lines

Ellen Katz likes clear categories, reliable plans and knowing what to expect. Her best friend Laurel has long helped her navigate school and social situations, but lately Laurel is making other friends and becoming less available. Ellen hopes their school trip to Barcelona will restore their closeness. Instead, unfamiliar surroundings, a team project and a new nonbinary classmate challenge the way she understands both friendship and herself. Ellen is autistic, Jewish and certain that her crushes are on girls; other parts of life turn out to resist such straightforward definitions. As the trip unfolds, she must consider whether making room for new connections can coexist with grieving the changes in an old one.