The Fights that Make Us

This empathetic, positive, empowering and immersive middle grade novel illuminates the lessons that history can teach us. Hagger Holt explores the dynamics of the Section 28 legislation that devastated the LGBTQ+ community in 1988. Deftly told through the device of a diary, discovered by a teen who has come out as non-binary, dual perspectives unfold as Jesse slowly reveals the secret story of their mum’s cousin Lisa and her best friends Nicky and Andy in the 1980s.

A flood of nostalgia is released through songs as chapter headings while stories of mixed tapes and 80’s fashion come to light amidst a brewing political storm stirred by Thatcherism. The Over the Rainbow book and coffee shop shines at the heart of it all as Jesse finds a refuge from the discrimination and attitudes they are facing at school thirty-five years later. Together with their fashionista friend Simran, they embark on a truth telling history project aimed at celebrating the inalienable right to fight for the right to love whom you choose and the freedom to express yourself.

Jesse’s parents, teachers and friends all play a part in the teen’s struggle for self-realisation and the need to make their voice heard. It’s an intuitive and factual story, juxtaposing light and dark moments. Hagger Holt is balanced without being didactic. She showcases the power of activism and feminism emphasising how essential it is to uncover hidden history and to have library archives and exhibitions that document social change. This is an important book with engaging characters that shines a spotlight on what it feels like to be non-binary and how the right education is key to understanding diverse identities. There are helpful discussion questions, an insightful author’s note and further resources at the back to encourage informed reader engagement.