Alice Austen Lived Here

From the award-winning author of George, a phenomenal novel about queerness past, present, and future.

Sam is very in touch with their own queer identity. They're nonbinary, and their best friend, TJ, is nonbinary as well. Sam's family is very cool with it… as long as Sam remembers that nonbinary kids are also required to clean their rooms, do their homework, and try not to antagonize their teachers too much.

The teacher-respect thing is hard when it comes to Sam’s history class, because their teacher seems to believe that only Dead Straight Cis White Men are responsible for history. When Sam’s home borough of Staten Island opens up a contest for a new statue, Sam finds the perfect non-DSCWM subject: photographer Alice Austen, whose house has been turned into a museum, and who lived with a female partner for decades.

Soon, Sam's project isn't just about winning the contest. It's about discovering a rich queer history that Sam's a part of -- a queer history that no longer needs to be quiet, as long as there are kids like Sam and TJ to stand up for it.

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Published Apr 2, 2024

176 pages

Average rating: 6.75

4 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

tripp2mylou
Mar 16, 2025
6/10 stars
Review to come...
BrandeeD
Dec 10, 2025
8/10 stars
Alex Gino does it once again! They have a phenomenal way of writing stories so that everyone feels seen and heard. In this story, our two main characters are nonbinary, a representation that was so fantastic to read about. But this book also tells the important story of everyone being able to see themselves represented in the world. In this story, Sam and TJ have to do a school project about someone from Staten Island who should have a statue of them. Immediately, they decide to do their report on someone who represents the LGBT community that is so important to them. In the process, Sam learned more about themselves, what it means to be nonbinary in a "straight world," and the importance of having a queer family by your side. In addition to this being a wonderful story with great characters and emotion, Alice Austen is a real person and we learn a lot about her life throughout this novel as well. A great shorter novel that all will enjoy and was very interesting to read!

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