All the Idle Weeds That Grow - Paperback

by Brian Koukol (Author)

Disabled best friends Zed and Gretchen are barely staying afloat through an adolescent riptide of relationships, ableism, and pickles when their new neighbor and instant crush is mysteriously replaced by an inexact duplicate.

Along with a tough as nails non-binary friend from school, they soon find themselves drawn into a thrilling conspiracy of sex, politics, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Outwitting villains, parents, and curfews, Zed and Gretchen remind the world that disability does not mean inability as they learn about life and love-and how to use others' prejudices against them. Now they just need to avoid getting killed.

By turns hilarious, poignant, and blisteringly honest, All the Idle Weeds That Grow is a coming-of-age novel that embraces the shared humanity of our wide diversities, our conflicts, our beauty, and our mess. The human race may be a vibrant palette that bends toward justice, but it could never achieve such things without the strength of its outliers.

Without those pioneering weeds, there could be no garden.

"Rollicking, subversive, hilarious, and brilliant. An idle weed myself, I feel my own existence strengthened by Koukol's characters, and the plot just barrels along. So inclusive, and so much fun!"

- Michelle Butler Hallett