Hi! Welcome to my tour stop for Ellen Outside the Lines by A.J. Sass.

Book Purchase Links & About the book

Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary
Publishing date: March 22nd, 2022

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indigo | IndieBound

Synopsis:

Rain Reign meets Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World in this heartfelt novel about a neurodivergent thirteen-year-old navigating changing friendships, a school trip, and expanding horizons.

Thirteen-year-old Ellen Katz feels most comfortable when her life is well planned out and people fit neatly into her predefined. . categories. She attends temple with Abba and Mom every Friday and Saturday. Ellen only gets crushes on girls, never boys, and she knows she can always rely on her best-and-only friend, Laurel, to help navigate social situations at their private Georgia middle school. Laurel has always made Ellen feel like being autistic is no big deal. But lately, Laurel has started making more friends, and cancelling more weekend plans with Ellen than she keeps. A school trip to Barcelona seems like the perfect place for Ellen to get their friendship back on track. Except it doesn’t. Toss in a new nonbinary classmate whose identity has Ellen questioning her very binary way of seeing the world, homesickness, a scavenger hunt-style team project that takes the students through Barcelona to learn about Spanish culture and this trip is anything but what Ellen planned.

Making new friends and letting go of old ones is never easy, but Ellen might just find a comfortable new place for herself if she can learn to embrace the fact that life doesn’t always stick to a planned itinerary.

15 Reactions I had while reading Ellen Outside the Lines by A.J. Sass

.1- I love the friendship between Ellen and Laurel at the start of this story. 

2-Isa seems like they are a fantastic character, and they seem like they could be a great friend to Ellen. 

3-The scene on the airplane made me sad because Laurel could have talked to Ellen about what was going on instead of leaving for her new friends. 

4-I loved how Ellen stuck up for Isa during the room assignments. 

5-While I understand Ellen is upset about the team assignments, this is also an opportunity for her to meet new students and make new friends. 

6-I love Ellen sticking up for Isa. I understand kids can be mean, especially to those they don’t know. I feel like Gib and Andy could still be nicer. 

7-The private text between Ellen and Isa is so sweet, and it makes me happy that Ellen and Isa are forming a friendship, 

8-I love the team bonding more. I was hoping they would, but reading the scenes is so heartwarming. 

9-I love how Gibs stepped in when Ellen needed help. This shows that they’re working as a team. 

10-Ellen and Laurel hanging out together makes me happy. I wish that the two friend groups could combine into one, though. 

11-I love the talk Elle and Laurel have in Barcellona. It was so sweet and showed that the two of them are really repairing their friendship. 

12-Laurel and Ellen having an honest talk about what Ellen feels is one of my favorite moments. I love that both of them are talking about Ellen is feeling honestly. 

13-Ellen’s conversation with her dad is so sweet, and I believe it was exactly what Ellen needed to hear. 

14- The pride parade scene was one of my favorite scenes in this book. I loved how it made the great feel included. 

15-The ending of this book was so sweet, and I love how the story ends on a cheerful note. 

About The Author -A.J. Sass

A. J. Sass (he/they) is an author, editor, and competitive figure skater who is interested in how intersections of identity, neurodiversity, and allyship can impact story narratives. He is the author of Ana on the Edge, a Booklist Editors’ Choice 2020 and ALA 2021 Rainbow Book List Top 10 for Young Readers selection, and Ellen Outside the Lines (Little, Brown, 2022), the co-author of Camp QUILTBAG* with Nicole Melleby (Algonquin, 2023), as well as a contributor to the This Is Our Rainbow: 16 Stories of Her, Him, Them, and Us (Knopf) and Allies: Real Talk about Showing Up, Screwing Up, and Trying Again (DK US & UK) anthologies. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his boyfriend and two cats who act like dogs.

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TBR & Beyond Tours-Ellen Outside the Lines by A.J. Sass blog and Instagram Tour Schedule

Blog Tour

March 21st
unconventional Quirky Bibliophile – Review & Mood Board
Kait Plus Books – Review & Mood Board

March 22nd
Sadie’s Spotlight – Promotional Post
Melancholic Blithe – Review, Mood Board
Rajiv’s Reviews – Review

March 23rd
Nine Bookish Lives – Promotional Post
The Bookwyrm’s Den – Review

March 24th
Djreadsbooks – Promotional Post
Not In Jersey – Review
Paiges of Novels – 15 Reactions While Reading Ellen Outside the Lines

March 25th
Twirling Book Princess – Promotional Post
Jen Jen Reviews – Review

March 26th
Rampant Reading Reviews – Promotional Post
Boys’ Mom Reads! – Review
LellieReads – Review

March 27th
Stuck in Fiction – Promotional Post
the nutty bookworm reads alot – Review
Lily’s Cozy Blog – Review & Tik Tok

March 21st
tbrandbeyond – Promotional Post
quirkybibliophile – Blogger’s Choice

March 22nd
curiouskitreads – Top 5 Reasons to Read Ellen Outside the Lines
fangirlpixiebooks – Promotional Post
rajivsreviews – Blogger’s Choice

March 23rd
rosyreadz – Top 5 Reasons to Read Ellen Outside the Lines
ninebookishlives – Blogger’s Choice

March 24th
djreadsbooks – Blogger’s Choice
notinjersey – Blogger’s Choice
paiges_of_novels – Blogger’s Choice

March 25th
justa.gal.andherbooks – Review
jenjenreviews – Blogger’s Choice

March 26th
mellasmusings – Review & Favorite Quotes
rampant_reading – Blogger’s Choice
lelliereads – Blogger’s Choice

March 27th
writingrosereads – Promotional Post
feliciareads11 – Blogger’s Choice
lilly_sreads – Blogger’s Choice