The Boy Maeve

Name: The Boy Maeve
Brand: Arotahi Agency
SKU: 9781761212468
Price: 24.99 NZD
Availability: InStock

By Kai Ash

Brief Description

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... Read More

Format: Paperback / softback

$24⁹⁹

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The Boy Maeve

$24⁹⁹

In this captivating spec-fic YA, an adopted 14-year-old trans boy discovers the truth about his biological parents … and himself.

Description

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

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781761212468

Publisher: Hardie Grant Children's Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 26 May 2026

Country: Australia

Imprint: Hardie Grant Children's Publishing

Illustration: Text-only

Audience: Teenage

DIMENSIONS

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 304

Collections

Children's Fiction Children’s, Teenage and Educational Fiction Kai Ash LGBTQ+ Young Adult

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.