About this item
Carey Parker dreams of being a diva, and bringing the house down with song. But despite their talent, emotional scars from an incident with a homophobic classmate and their grandmother's spiraling dementia make it harder and harder for Carey to find their voice.
Then Carey meets Cris, a singer/guitarist who makes Carey feel seen for the first time in their life. With the rush of a promising new romantic relationship, Carey finds the confidence to audition for the role of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the school musical, setting off a chain reaction of prejudice by Carey's tormentor and others in the school. It's up to Carey, Cris, and their friends to defend their rights--and they refuse to be silenced.
Told in alternating chapters with identifying pronouns, debut author Steven Salvatore's Can't Take That Away is both a romance, and an affirmation of self-identity.
About the Author
Steven Salvatore is a gay, genderqueer author, and writing professor with an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School. They are the founder and CEO of Queerative Writers, a virtual creative workshop series for LGBTQ aspiring writers. They are the critically acclaimed author of young adult novels AND THEY LIVED ... , CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY, and NO PERFECT PACES: A Novel. Their adult romance debut THE BOYFRIEND SUBSCRIPTION is forthcoming March 2024. They are represented by Jess Regel of Helm Literary Agency.
