Kristina Circelli

The House of Gabriel Kristina Circelli

Gabriella never felt like she belonged. At thirteen, she should have liked the same things as her friends: boys, the beach, and everything else that came with being a girl. But that's the problem - she doesn't feel like a girl. When she's shipped off to her grandma's for the summer, forced to attend therapy, Gabriella fears she'll never discover her true self. Her mom says she's confused. Her grandmother judges her short hair and boyish clothes. Only her great-great Uncle Louis, a retired priest, seems to understand that she feels like an impostor in a foreign body. Now she's stuck in a peculiar house filled with thousands of books, surrounded by a city of strangers, with just one person to call a friend. Feeling entirely alone, Gabriella must learn to stand up for herself while navigating a new world she's no longer sheltered from. She's determined to make this summer mean something. It has to, because she can't go back to the way life used to be. She can't go back as Gabriella. Gabriella no longer exists. In her place is someone stronger, braver ... someone who belongs.