Weirdos Welcome

A love story that's messy, awkward, and weirdly wonderful. Just like real life.

Braden's anxiety sends him spiraling over things like quitting the basketball team and the air quality in the cafeteria, yet through it all, he manages to be charming and act like everything is Just Fine.

Rae is on the spectrum; her passion is rescuing dogs online. She struggles over masking her autism, navigating group projects, and telling people exactly what she thinks-whether they like it or not. Braden and Rae don't "fit in," which makes it even harder to survive high school. But when Braden begins investigating a local environmental scandal and Rae starts speaking her truth in a blog about being on the spectrum, their worlds collide. Soon, they're facing down bullies, fake bomb threats, blog trolls, and the terrifying vulnerability of first love.

Written in alternating viewpoints, Weirdos Welcome is a raw, funny, and fiercely compassionate neurodivergent love story about owning your oddness, standing up when it's easier to disappear, and finding that person who doesn't ask you to be "normal"-or even pretend to be. This is a story for anyone who's ever been called a freak, felt too much, or wondered if their quirks made them unlovable. Spoiler alert: They don't.

Cynthia Baseman is the author of the memoir Love, Mom: A Mother's Journey from Loss to Hope, which has been recommended by clinicians and bereaved mothers worldwide and has been excerpted in Barbara Seaman's Voices of the Women's Health Movement. She is the author of the children's illustrated book series Lip Monsters, which she created with Victoria Greenwood. She is a Nicholl Fellowship finalist for her first screenplay. Baseman earned an Emmy nomination as coproducer of a children's special on literacy, Word Up! She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, four chatty cockatiels, and rescue dog, Stella.

You can visit Cynthia Baseman at www.cynthiabaseman.com.