Ode to My First Car

By: Robin Gow

Narrated by: Natalie Naudus

A YA contemporary sapphic romance told in verse, by the critically praised author of A Million Quiet Revolutions, about a bisexual teen girl who falls in and out of love over the course of one fateful summer.

It’s the summer before senior year and Claire Kemp, a closeted bisexual, is finally starting to admit she might be falling in love with her best friend, Sophia, who she’s known since they were four.

Trying to pay off the fine from the crash that totals her beloved car, Lars, Claire takes a job at the local nursing home up the street from her house, where she meets Lena, an eighty-eight-year-old lesbian woman who tells her stories about what it was like growing up as gay in the 1950s and '60s.

As Claire spends more time with Lena and grows more confident of her identity, another girl, Pen, comes into the picture, and Claire is caught between two loves—one familiar and well-worn, the other new and untested.

©2023 Robin Gow (P)2023 Spotify Audiobooks

Ode to my First Car

Trigger Warnings: car accident, internalized biphobia, coming out, church, toxic relationship, dementia, sex

Representation: Bisexual, Transgender, Gay, Lesbian

Ode to my First Car is a young adult contemporary romance told in verse about a bisexual teen girl who falls in and out of love over the course of one fateful summer.

It’s a few months before senior year and Claire Kemp, a closeted bisexual, is finally starting to admit she might be falling in love with her best friend, Sophia, who she’s known since they were four. Trying to pay off the fine from the crash that totals Lars, her beloved car, Claire takes a job at the local nursing home up the street from her house. There she meets Lena, an eighty-eight-year-old lesbian woman who tells her stories about what it was like growing up gay in the 1950s and ’60s.

As Claire spends more time with Lena and grows more confident of her identity, another girl, Pen, comes into the picture, and Claire is caught between two loves–one familiar and well-worn, the other new and untested.

I always forget how much I enjoy a book written in verse! The short snippets of the character’s story are perfect bite size chunks to digest and process, while still providing a full story and world for us to dive into. This book is soft and sweet, a perfect summer read and I’m so glad I read it now! I will always cheer for a book with older lesbians! I absolutely adored Lena and her adventures with Claire. This is a great coming of age story and incorporates coming out so well! Overall a fantastic read!

It's a different kind of gay coming out story.

A little weird to get used to at first, but I respect the uniqueness of it. After a while it starts to feel like any other story, which is a good thing. I also like the representation in it. It covers it's grounds, really focusing on just a handful of characters.
It's a solid story and I enjoyed it.