Don't Tell Me What Happens

By Raphael Simon

An enticing, highly illustrated queer rom-com featuring one beat-up notebook, two love stories, and a happily ever on hold for over three-decades--a sweet, summertime mystery that perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston, Adam Silvera, and Alice Oseman.

At nineteen years of age, with my days seemingly numbered, I make one request:
Deliver this journal to Casey Rohner, wherever he is.

A dedicated New Yorker, sixteen-year-old Noah is dreading summer in Venice Beach -- until he stumbles into Billy Goat Vintage and meets Tomo, the effortlessly cool skateboarder behind the counter. Buried in a box of old records, the boys find a sketchbook from the 1980's: the journal of teen artist Diego, filled with notes, scraps, and drawings of cute boys. This glimpse of the queer past turns into a gripping read when Diego falls for a closeted surfer at his high school named Casey -- only for their secret romance to come to an abrupt, devastating end.

Noah finds the questions around the journal almost as irresistible as he finds Tomo. What happened to Diego? Where is Casey? And what of Diego's cryptic request? Tomo's solution: Track down Casey Rohner and deliver the journal. As Tomo leads him on a search across the sun-soaked streets of Venice, Noah can't quite tell if they're chasing ghosts, or just maybe forging a future all their own.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250376750
• ISBN13: 9781250376756
• Release Date: April 2027
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.4" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 14 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 9 to Postsecondary