Dahlia Adler
Author/Editor/Blogger
Home Field advantage
(Wednesday Books/spotify)
available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audio
Amber McCloud’s dream is to become cheer captain at the end of the year, but it’s an extra-tall order to be joyful and spirited when the quarterback of your team has been killed in a car accident. For both the team and the squad, watching Robbie get replaced by newcomer Jack Walsh is brutal. And when it turns out Jack is actually short for Jaclyn, all hell breaks loose.
The players refuse to be led by a girl, the cheerleaders are mad about the changes to their traditions, and the fact that Robbie’s been not only replaced but outshined by a QB who wears a sports bra has more than a few Atherton Alligators in a rage. Amber tries for some semblance of unity, but it quickly becomes clear that she's only got a future on the squad and with her friends if she helps them take Jack down.
Just one problem: Amber and Jack are falling for each other, and if Amber can't stand up for Jack and figure out how to get everyone to fall in line, her dream may come at the cost of her heart.
Home Field Advantage is a sparkling romance about fighting for what—or who—you truly want.
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Bookshop | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Indigo | Blackwell's | Books of Wonder
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Audio (narrated by Natalie Naudus and Lori Prince): Spotify | Libro.fm | Audible | Apple | Chirp
Cover art: Alex Cabal
Cover design: Kerri Resnick
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Originally published June 7, 2022​
A Kids' Indie Next List Pick
A Junior Library Guild Selection
2023 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults
2023 ALA Rainbow List
A Bank Street Best Young Adult Book of the Year
A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year
A Boston Public Library Best Book of the Year
An Amazon Best Book of the Month
​Business Insider, "20 of the most anticipated young adult books coming out this spring"
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Book Riot, "22 Great New Books To Read in 2022", "Heartwarming Queer YA Books Like Netflix’s Heartstopper", "40 of the Best Summer Reads for 2022", and "3 Heartwarming Queer YA Releases to Read During Pride"
Bookish, "June’s Most-Anticipated Books"
Bookstr, "13 LGBTQIA+ Romance Coming Out This June"
Buzzfeed, "40 More Highly Anticipated YA Books Coming Out In 2022"
B&N Reads, "19 Must-Read LGBTQIA+ YA Books to Read During Pride Month"
Epic Reads, "The 21 Most Anticipated YA Books to Read in June"
Frolic, "Our Top 10 YA Reads for June"
Geek Girl Authority, "17 New LGBTQIA+ Books You Should Read for Pride"
Goodreads, "The 68 Most Anticipated YA Novels of 2022" and "The Can't-Hardly-Wait Young Adult Books of June"
GO Magazine, "Slide Into Spring And Summer With These Fabulously Gay Reads"
The Honey POP, "Sweet Reads: June Reads for Summer Vacation"
NBC News, "20 best kids and young adult books by LGBTQ+ authors in 2022"
The Nerd Daily, "Must-Have 2022 Queer Book Releases"
United By Pop, "Exciting New YA Reads For June 2022"
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"Bubbly cheerleader Amber McCloud falls for star quarterback Jaclyn “Jack” Walsh in Adler’s winning queer take on the classic meet-cute." ... This insightful and thought-provoking story astutely addresses the anti-queer attitude of the teens’ community while empathically highlighting the painstaking efforts queer youth may make to “fit in” while denying their true selves." ―Publishers Weekly, starred review
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"Adler keeps the pages turning with well-mapped tension and compelling characters, using clichés to her advantage as she builds an appealing and heartfelt romance...Bubbly but not naïve: a worthy rendition of a classic high school story." ―Kirkus Reviews
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"Readers hungry for more sapphic love stories will give this fully fleshed sports-centric romance full marks." ―Booklist
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“A combination of sizzling chemistry and heartfelt vulnerability makes the star-crossed romance between Amber and Jack irresistible. Home Field Advantage insists that women belong on the field--as cheerleaders whose athleticism should receive the recognition it deserves and as players granted the same opportunities as their male peers. Teen readers will applaud Amber and Jack's fight to be their authentic selves.” ―Shelf Awareness
"A perfect summer read." ―The Buffalo News
"I adored Amber and Jack and I loved their perfect high school romance." ―The Southern Bookseller Review
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"A well-written story with solid pacing, believable characters, and relatable issues." - School Library Journal
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"Adler’s magnificent new romance is a glorious touchdown of a book." ―Buzzfeed, "44 New LGBTQA+ YA Novels You Need This Spring"
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"Adler’s full-hearted latest shines as bright as stadium lights on a Friday night." ―Electric Lit, "The Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books for Summer 2022"
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"The perfect, heartwarming beach read for your July." ―Frolic
"This was such a readable, engrossing book...Dahlia Adler continues to be a queer YA author you just can’t miss." - The Lesbrary
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"A bubbly LGBTQ romance that puts a fresh new twist on the age-old relationship trope of the high school football quarterback and the team cheer captain." ―Paste Magazine, "The Best New YA Books of June 2022"
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"This YA contemporary romance has not only a sweet Sapphic love story but juicy narratives about football and cheerleading." ―Autostraddle
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"A swoonworthy romance about breaking the glass ceiling and being true to yourself, Adler’s Home Field Advantage is a fun, queer twist on the quarterback/cheerleader trope that will suck you in from the very first page." ―The Nerd Daily
"Through plays on long-loved romance tropes, delightfully complex characters, and the tender-handed approach to teen drama that’s made Adler such a powerhouse in the queer YA world, Home Field Advantage is exactly the kind of representation and hope that every queer kid — out or not — deserves. It’s a reminder that even in a world that wants you silenced, you deserve to be as loud (and proud) as you want." ―INTO
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"Home Field Advantage has it all. A swoony romance, characters you will be cheering for from start to finish, and a plot that sucks you in from the very first page. An instant favorite, perfectly capturing the power in being true to yourself and fighting for what is right." ―Rachael Lippincott, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of She Gets the Girl
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“My expectations were high, and Dahlia still managed to exceed them. She completely captures the struggle of finding out who you are during those chaotic teen years with heart and humor. I was cheering for Amber and Jack for every single page!” ―Chelsea Cameron, New York Times-bestselling author of The Girl Next Door
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"Cinematic, swoonworthy, and full of queer solidarity that will have you cheering. Amber and Jack's chemistry leaps off the page. Adler has long been one of the key players in LGBTQ YA, but she has truly outdone herself here." ―Kelly Quindlen, bestselling author of She Drives Me Crazy
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"J-A-C-K, I’m Team Jack all the way! Seriously though, Dahlia Adler’s newest book, Home Field Advantage, is going to be an instant favorite. It’s like your favorite pair of well-worn jeans, the biggest bowl of mac-n-cheese, or the snuggliest sweater on a warm night. It’s the book you’re going to read again and again when you desperately need a dose of big queer butterflies in the stomach. It’s pure romantic gold with perfect girl loves girl attraction. Read it. Repeatedly." ―Jaye Robin Brown, author of The Key to You and Me
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"Dahlia Adler's Home Field Advantage will break your heart and then bind it back together with turf tape. Both the swooniest of romances and a heartfelt story navigating the things we're passionate about and the people we're passionate about - and how sometimes what seem like hard choices between the two end up not being a choice at all. This book will make you cheer." ―Lev Rosen, author of Camp
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"Dahlia Adler should be a household name. With a fairy tale ending for girls who like girls, Home Field Advantage is a swoony sapphic version of the teenage romcoms I grew up on. This book is an instant-classic." ―Meryl Wilsner, author of Something to Talk About
