Skater Boy is a pop punk debut about queer romance and destroying labels, as a teen risks everything to write his own story. 

Stonebridge High’s resident bad boy, Wesley “Big Mac” Mackenzie, is failing senior year—thanks to his unchecked anger, rowdy friends, and a tendency to ditch his homework for skateboarding and a secret photography obsession. So when his mom drags him to a production of The Nutcracker, Wes isn’t interested at all . . . until he sees Tristan Monroe. Mr. Nutcracker himself.

Wes knows he shouldn’t like Tristan; after all, he’s a ballet dancer, and Wes is as closeted as they come. But when they start spending time together, Wes can’t seem to get Tristan out of his head. Driven by a new sense of purpose, Wes begins to think that despite every authority figure telling him otherwise, maybe he can change for the better and graduate on time.

As a falling out with his friends becomes inevitable, Wes realizes that being himself means taking a stand, and blowing up the bad-boy reputation he never wanted in the first place. In a world where men are supposed to staunch emotions, gayness must be exuberant, and skater “punks” will never amount to anything, seventeen-year-old Wes Mackenzie’s journey of self-discovery and acceptance validates the chaotic feelings of adolescence and gives teens permission to decide who they want to be despite every contradiction surrounding them.

Skater Boy is a heart-wrenching, honest story for anyone who’s ever felt trapped between expectations and authenticity. It delivers a heart-wrenching, validating, and honest story about what it means to be gay in a world where you don’t fit in

Anthony Nerada’s passionate writing lays palpable emotions on the page—from the breathtaking moments of burgeoning romance to the heat of explosive frustrations and the flurry of teenage anxieties in between.

Available from Penguin Random House

Anthony Nerada became a writer after his fifth-grade teacher told him it was his destiny. Since then, he’s read too many books (if there is such a thing) and explored worlds far outside the reaches of his own. Anthony holds a BA in psychology and two diplomas (one in public relations, the other in publishing), which allow him to write the day away while simultaneously psychoanalyzing his friends. Anthony lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands of the Coast Salish Peoples. Skater Boy is his debut novel.

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist based in Toronto with a focus on tourism, lifestyle, entertainment and community issues. He has written several travel articles and has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He’s willing to take on any assignments of interest, attend parties with free booze, listen to rants, and travel the world in search of the great unknown. He’s eager to discover the new, remember the past, and look into the future.