Sasha Masha

A Junior Library Guild SelectionA Lambda Literary Most Anticipated LGBTQ BookA Bitch Media Feminist Read of the Month A Book Riot Favorite Upcoming Book of the Month

“Written in the first-person, this coming-of-age story offers an intimate view of self-discovery. Queer community and history play a refreshing significance in Sasha Masha’s personal revelations… . a sensitive and vulnerable story of self-growth.” –Kirkus Reviews

“Borinsky does an excellent job of taking the reader inside Sasha Masha’s troubled mind as he agonizes over his identity. The result is a memorably offbeat coming-of age-novel that is sure to resonate with readers.” –Booklist

“In straightforward first-person prose, debut novelist Borinsky captures the ups and downs of teenage soul-searching, struggling to define one’s gender, and coming out as trans … Sasha Masha is a well-crafted, memorable protagonist whose voice rings true and whose experiences will resonate as he learns to accept that his journey, like any questioning person’s, is an ongoing one.” –Publishers Weekly

“The book refreshingly ends without Alex defining his gender, pronouns, or path forward. However, the reader leaves knowing that Alex is surer in himself and ready to embark on a journey to a better, truer future. This #ownvoices novel is a reminder that “transitions” don’t always have a definite endpoint and an uncertain identity is not an invalid one.” –Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Borinsky walks the reader slowly and thoughtfully through Alex’s transformation without rushing past the uncomfortable and often painful parts of his journey. The book’s conclusion is satisfying in its open-endedness, leaving both protagonist and reader with a great curiosity and optimism for what comes next.” –Horn Book

“Sasha Masha is a quiet, yet insightful novel, chronicling the confusing stages of understanding and exploring your gender identity and shows that gender is a spectrum and that it’s okay to not know where you land on it just yet. That it’s okay to experiment and find what feels right for you and that there’s no rush to put a label on it.” –The Nerd Daily

Agnes Borinsky is a playwright and performer, originally from Baltimore and currently living in Los Angeles. Her plays have been produced and developed by Playwrights Horizons, Clubbed Thumb, Target Margin, Page 73, Ensemble Studio Theatre, SPACE at Ryder Farm, Masrah Ensemble in Beirut, Upstream Theater in St. Louis, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and her writing has appeared in n+1, The Brooklyn Rail, Slate, and HowlRound. A 2014-2015 LMCC Workspace resident, Agnes was a member of Youngblood from 2010 to 2016. She has otherwise performed and developed work in basements, backyards, bars, circus tents, and theaters. Sasha Masha is her debut novel.