17-year-old Montgomery is a misfit living in a small town in Northern California with her two lesbian moms and her sister Tesla. Monty runs the Mystery Club at Jefferson High with her two quirky best friends. When Monty purchases the Eye of Know, a crystal amulet advertised online as having mysterious powers, strange things begin happening to people she dislikes. She must navigate questions about whether the amulet’s powers are real while facing homophobic bullying directed at herself and her friends, particularly when a new student arrives whose father is an anti-gay preacher. Through her journey, Monty grapples with identity, belonging, and the realization that the greatest mystery she’s trying to solve is herself.
DCP Stories Collection
- Book – Fiction
- Ages 13-18 (e.g., young adult/teen)
- Mariko Tamaki
- Sperm Donor
Saving Montgomery Sole
Review
What’s Done Well
- Love makes a family. Donor conception does not play a large role in this book other than in discussions of how Montgomery and her family is negatively treated by their extended family and larger community who doesn’t see a family with two moms as a real family. While this bullying does make Montgomery feel like an outsider in her community, she is very confident in the fact that even though she is not biologically related to one of her moms, that does not change their relationship.
