#MMGM: Audiobook Review, A World Worth Saving

I'm posting this morning with the Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays blog hop. The hop is sponsored by  Greg Pattridge of Always in the Middle. Check out Greg's blog for a list of additional middle grade reviews.  

In honor of Pride month, I am also seeking out, reading, and reviewing MG books with LGBTQ+ characters and themes.  

 

Title: A World Worth Saving
Author: Kyle Lukoff. Read by Will Malloy, with notes read by the author.
Publication Info: Books on Tape, 2025. 9 hours. Hardcover by Dial Books, 2025, 344 pages.
Source: Library

Publisher's Blurb (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.

Lockdown is over, but A’s world feels smaller than ever. Coming out as trans didn’t exactly go well, and most days, he still 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?

My Review:
One thing--the first couple of chapters of this book are really hard to read/hear. The transphobia/trans hatred that the adults exude are so painful--and so distressingly true to our times--that I quit reading for a while. Since the whole book is about battling the demons who are sucking the souls from trans kids--and making use of humans who are all too ripe for possession--that doesn't totally go away, but once I was into the middle of the battle, it was a little easier.

A is a fantastic hero. He's extremely human and 14, which means he comes complete with mood swings, an excess of self-confidence, a total lack of self-confidence, and a conviction that he's always right. Thank goodness he has friends (including something as out of this world as the demons, but on A's side) who don't give up on him! In the end, everyone gets a little transformed, and maybe we can all do a little better at seeing the ways we, too, have given in to the demons.

Lukoff's use of Jewish mythology fits in with the sorts of books that have human kids interacting with mythological beings, but it also feels unique. Maybe that's just because it's not a mythology I'm familiar with, but it didn't annoy me the way many books do when they have normal kids suddenly thrust into a magical world (well, A's world isn't exactly magical, and he doesn't have any mystical, magical powers. As he gets told clearly, he's not special--he's just the one who gets to do this).

Will Malloy does a great job with the narration. I'm not in a position to judge, but his renderings of Hebrew words sound right to me. The book concludes with a direct message intended to help a trans kid who may be in an awkward spot of their own.  The book was published in February of 2025, which means that Lukoff wrote it before things got *really* bad, though the handwriting has been on the wall for a while. It does at times feel chillingly real.

My Recommendation:
This book teeters on the edge between middle grade and YA. Things get pretty real, and the transphobic elements mean it might require some adult guidance for younger readers. On the other hand, we need to arm ourselves and our youth to fight against those who, like the demons in the book, feed off the pain and misery of kids like those in the book. It's also a great adventure story.

FTC Disclosure: I checked  Mountain Upside Down  out of the library, and received nothing from the writer or publisher for my honest review. The opinions expressed are my own and those of no one else. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."  

 

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 ©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2026 

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