Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff!

Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, MG, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Trans Jewish MC
Published on: 4th February 2025
Goodreads
A groundbreaking, action-packed, and ultimately uplifting adventure that intertwines elements of Jewish mythology with an unflinching examination of the impacts of transphobia, from Newbery Honor-winner Kyle Lukoff
“Kyle Lukoff has given us something rare and beautiful — a novel that combines wondrous fantasy, searing real-world relevance, and a frank empathetic understanding of the adolescent experience that hits so viscerally I can only compare it to the way my generation experienced Judy Blume. The way Lukoff combines these elements in a page-turning adventure is nothing short of magic!” –Rick Riordan, author of Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Covid lockdown is over, but A’s world feels smaller than ever. Coming out as trans didn’t exactly go well, and most days, he barely leaves his bedroom, let alone the house. But the low point of A’s life isn’t online school, missing his bar mitzvah, or the fact that his parents monitor his phone like hawks—it’s the weekly Save Our Sons and Daughters meetings his parents all but drag him to.
At SOSAD, A and his friends Sal and Yarrow sit by while their parents deadname them and wring their hands over a nonexistent “transgender craze.” After all, sitting in suffocating silence has to be better than getting sent away for “advanced treatment,” never to be heard from again.
When Yarrow vanishes after a particularly confrontational meeting, A discovers that SOSAD doesn’t just feel soul-sucking . . . it’s run by an actual demon who feeds off the pain and misery of kids like him. And it’s not just SOSAD—the entire world is beset by demons dining on what seems like an endless buffet of pain and bigotry.
But how is one trans kid who hasn’t even chosen a name supposed to save his friend, let alone the world? And is a world that seems hellbent on rejecting him even worth saving at all?
I fell down the rabbit-hole of Middle Grade SFF a few days ago, and now have a long list of books to try and upcoming releases to keep an eye out for. One of the latter I’m most excited about is A World Worth Saving, which has been praised to the skies everywhere I look!
I’m particularly interested in that bit at the end of the blurb – ‘is a world that seems hellbent on rejecting him even worth saving at all?’ I’m presuming the answer will be Yes, but I very much want to know how Lukoff will justify that Yes in a way that rings true, and convincing, for young trans readers.
(No pressure, or anything!)
What book/s are you looking forward to this week?
There’s so much good middle-grade SFF out there these days—I feel like if I go back down that rabbit hole, I’ll never stop (I have Abeni’s Song on my shelf right now, waiting for me)
I’m only just dipping my toes in, and am almost overwhelmed by how much there is on offer! I should have been paying proper attention to MG YEARS ago!
I’m also looking forward to this one! Lukoff’s two contemporary MG were pretty impressive, and I’m curious to see how he handles SFF.
My fingers are crossed it’ll be great!