No matter what your experience, high school never really leaves you. As part of that inescapability, I’m still drawn to high school stories. It’s always interesting to see how the modern high school experience differs from my own. And YA stories in particular are often fun reads, even when they do take a dark turn. Victory Lap is one such story that explores the modern day relationships, challenges, and triumphs of high school. Below is my review of Victory Lap along with an interview with its authors.
Victory Lap plot summary
Josh McTavish feels left behind when he opts to take a fifth year of high school instead of moving on to college with his close group of friends and girlfriend, Erica. This squad, which calls themselves, Party Awesome, part ways at the end of summer vacation with Josh and Erica resolving to maintain a long distance relationship.
Josh’s only other good friend, Mel, has also taken a fifth year but often doesn’t show up to class. With his friends and girlfriend gone, Josh is relegated to hanging out with his B-team of friends, Jack and Raymond, along with his co-workers at McDonalds.
Meanwhile, Kiki Blair is in her senior year of high school. Previously, her classmates knew her as Kyle. But over the summer, she began to take hormone supplements, changed her wardrobe, and started wearing makeup. Kiki’s mother cautiously supports her while her father practically disowns her, and her best friend, Amber, runs hot and cold on her. It’s not until Mel and Josh stumble into her life that she feels like she has a stable support system, and an instant crush on Josh.
As they maneuver through their first few months of the school year, the three friends face heartbreak, bullying, family issues, and trans/homophobia. As a result, they are forced to make some tough decisions in order to survive not only high school but their individual feelings, fears, and the future.
The story
Victory Lap is a very modern day story set in Canada that deals with the classic coming-of-age issues with very topical subjects thrown in. While open LGBTQ+ lifestyles are more acceptable than they’ve ever been, it doesn’t mean that they’re easy, particularly in teen years.
Kiki’s story shows that being comfortable in your own skin doesn’t mean that others will allow you to stay comfortable in that skin. Whether it’s parents, school bullies, or even an old attendance sheet bearing your dead name, you will always be fighting to be seen as the person you feel you are.
Josh, on the other hand, represents those teens who are unwilling to take that next step in life. College is the logical next step for high school graduates, but it’s not always the right step. Josh has grown too comfortable with college life and can’t seem to follow in the footsteps of his closest friends. As a result, he’s stuck in a fifth year limbo where Kiki becomes the center of his attention as another lost soul floating in the hallways, looking for someone to grab onto.
The voice
The teen characters in Victory Lap blend authentic teen speak with the slightly over-intelligent voice of a John Green novel. Alternating between Josh and Kiki’s points of view, the voices are distinct, but both sound like teenagers with their quippy banter, pessimistic humor, and nerdy pop culture references.
Josh is the most animated and dramatic, especially after his relationship with Erica ends soon after school begins. Kiki is like a deer caught in headlights, understandably overanalyzing and stressing over every interaction. Mel puts on a carefree attitude while not-so-subtly falling to pieces inside. They take turns playing the rock that the others must lean against to catch their breath amid their individual conflicts.
Party Awesome operates more as a found family fueled by empathy and understanding rather than blood and genes. They do often get wrapped up in their own struggles and forget to check in with each other in their desperate attempts to calm their own minds about their current conflicts. Sometimes it takes a signal flare to wave each other down to keep from drowning.
As with most YA novels, every conflict is dialed to a 10. Breakups signify the end of the world. Good grades are life or death. But the most nail-biting concern is with Kiki who spends the first third of the book trying to hide the fact that she’s a trans girl from Josh and the rest of the story trying to get comfortable with her new body, despite the blowback from school bully Chester and her frustrated father.
Josh, meanwhile, plays the unmotivated kid who refuses to grow up. He’s not unlikable. He just has some hard life lessons to learn before he can move on from high school.
The tone
Victory Lap has a mostly humorous tone, even when things get really heavy. The authors don’t forget to throw in some dry, pessimistic dialogue, even in the darkest of moments.
Kiki’s journey is treated particularly sensitively, giving her a bittersweet ending that doesn’t use her situation as a way to create a melodramatic, tragic wrap up for the story as a whole. However, she never truly does come into her own as a person, and it would be interesting to explore this character further in a possible sequel or spinoff.
Each character is specifically painted with their own personality full of likes, dislikes, and other personal details that are fun to explore and collect in the reader’s head. Though character driven, the story never stalls or feels overinflated in order to punch up the word count. Every detail and situation means something for the character arcs and the story’s message as a whole.
Though set in Canada, the novel shares the feel of a contemporary American teenage story. So, nothing is lost in translation for American readers aside from some geographical elements and the idea of students being allowed to take a fifth year of high school.
Small story gripes
My biggest lingering questions with Victory Lap lay in Kiki’s backstory. Given the inevitability of blowback when it came to transitioning her senior year, I would have liked to have learned why Kiki decided to transition when she did. As one of I’m sure many cisgender female readers of this book, my ignorance in the trans experience could use some explanation. As timid as she is, I would have liked to have understood what led her to secretly buy her hormone supplements and the daring decision to show up to school in a dress.
She has no other interaction with kids at school other than Josh, Mel, Amber, and Chester. So, it’s almost like she appeared out of thin air rather than morphed into an entirely new person to the outside world.
My other issue was with Kiki’s dad who plays almost a caricature of the unsupportive father who refuses to admit that his son was born in the wrong body. Every interaction between the two begins with an immature crack at Kiki’s expense. He always shows his disappointment through embarrassment rather than the silent treatment, sadness, or even hatred.
Meanwhile, Kiki’s mother allows it to happen, never standing up to him despite the fact that he doesn’t seem like a violent or overbearing man. She never even seems to console Kiki later, just jumping in when she needs to to make sure that Kiki’s transition is physically safe, even though it’s not mentally safe.
My recommendation
Despite these slight story issues that I would have loved to have had clarified, Victory Lap is a fun read with some serious elements thrown in and your typical high school relationships playing out with a cast of colorful, flawed, but likable characters. Part romance, part coming-of-age, and part commitment crisis, Victory Lap illustrates the confusion and conflicts associated with taking, or not taking, life-changing steps. It teaches us when to do the right thing for ourselves and when to put others first. And for we adult readers, it shows us how much high school has changed, and not changed, from our personal pasts to present day.
About the authors and book
K.A. Mielke and Riley Alexis Wood author links
Book Title: Victory Lap
Genres: Young adult, Contemporary, Coming-of-age, LGBTQ+
Links to buy:
Victory Lap book summary
High school fifth-year, Josh, doesn’t know what he wants to do after high school, so he’s taking a victory lap. High school senior, Kiki, is starting this year fresh after coming out as transgender over the summer. Everyone just wants to make it out of the public school system in one piece, but Josh and Kiki’s last year might not be so simple.
Excerpt from Victory Lap
He holds out the book—to shush me, I think? Anyway, it works. “I’m fine. It’s just a nosebleed, I don’t think it’s broken or anything. Just try to be more careful next time you charge into a crowd, for humanity’s sake.”
“Yes. Great idea. I will.”
He chuckles and holds the book against his chest. The light catches on the gold lettering along the spine. If it’s at all possible, the title of the book is more embarrassing than the predicament we’ve found ourselves in.
I find myself pointing. “Is that…?”
“Don’t judge me,” he says, turning his head. He grimaces and switches the grip on his nose, tilting his head back and pinching the bridge. “Is it too late to say it’s for a friend?”
“I love Magicats. I own every book Dennis Oak has ever written, even his first awful self-published novella.”
Magicats is this eight-volume young adult series about girls whose magical cats give them powers. It’s diverse and heartbreaking, and Dennis Oak is like one of the last remaining pseudonymous authors whose cover hasn’t been blown by the internet. Not to be sexist, but I’ve never seen a boy reading Magicats outside of a midnight release party.
“Yeah, guilty pleasure,” the boy says, grinning. His teeth are straight and white, like he walked right out of a Colgate commercial. “I guess now that you know my dirtiest secret, I should probably get your name.”
“Kiki,” I say, my face hot.
“Josh. And it looks like…” Josh says, squinting at the sheets of paper posted on the walls, “I’m in Writer’s Craft first. Guess I’ll see you later, Kiki. And, uh, don’t tell anybody about this.”
He waves his book at me and makes his way through the crowd.
Talking Shop
What do you want readers to take away from your books?
Kris: There are a couple major themes found in Victory Lap that I feel very strongly about.
First, it’s okay to not know where you’re going in life as a teenager! I’m 27, and married, and a father, and I still don’t know what the heck I’m doing.
Second, family is what you make of it. I’m a big fan of found family stories, and I have a lot of my own experience with family trauma. Shared DNA isn’t a free pass for disrespect and abuse, and you don’t need to forgive your abusers, not even if you’re related.
Third, if you’re going to punch Nazis, do it for the right reason: because they’re hecking Nazis, not because they’re triggering your toxic masculinity.
What’s the best review/compliment that you’ve received about your book?
Alexis: Quite a few of my trans friend beta readers have talked about being moved to tears at various points in the book. It seems unbelievable to me that anyone would be so affected by my writing, and their encouragement made me believe in the book so much more than I would have on my own.
What is a fun or strange source of inspiration that ended up in your book?
K: The Castle is based on Barra Castle, an actual apartment building in Kitchener, Ontario, where my friends and I regularly hung out to drink and smoke by ourselves (instead of going to parties—I was never invited to parties as a teen). It has since been demolished.
A: The Jeep I drove in my early ’20s was a red 2008 JK named Crimson. Kiki’s Jeep Ruby is based on Crimson and her love of all things 4×4 comes from my own complicated history as a country trans woman who loved, and was ashamed of loving, trucks and motorcycles.
How long did it take to write your book from the day you got the idea to write it to the day you published it?
K: Alexis asked if I wanted to help write Victory Lap way back at the end of 2014, and we officially started collaborating on the novel in January of 2015. Since then, it’s been through six or seven revisions, went the whole querying process, and lost an entire point of view character before we decided to self-publish. But the idea started even before 2014, as Victory Lap was a project Alexis started working on in high school.
A: Victory Lap started as a project I was writing in my twelfth-grade literature class, largely based on my fifth-year friends at my high school. The main characters were Josh and Mars, and it was originally a 20k word short story that I mostly wrote at my high school girlfriend’s cottage. It manifested in different forms–a small visual novel video game, a terrible web series pilot, and more until eventually I committed to making a novel in 2015… somehow, I don’t even remember how, I dragged Kris along with me.
How long have you considered yourself a writer? Did you have any formal training, or is it something you learned as you went?
K: I always wrote stories as a kid, including many collaborations with Alexis with the purpose of role playing in the park with our friends. But I didn’t decide to take writing seriously (and actually start finishing stories for once) until about grade 10 or 11, shortly before I decided to drop out of high school to “focus on writing.” (Spoiler: that was not a great choice.)
I have no formal training—I didn’t even have the grades to get into my school’s creative writing course—and everything I learned at the time, I learned from my then-girlfriend’s dad and his nicotine-stained binder of outdated-by-several-decades craft lessons and publishing advice. Since then, most of my growth as a writer is thanks to marrying a better writer than me, and finding a solid group of writing friends that branched out of NaNoWriMo, and all of their combined beta reading wisdom. Also, a lot of trial and error. So much of that.
A: I don’t know if I ever really considered myself a writer? When I was in university, I published a few essays and wrote a few drafts, but I mostly considered myself a reader. I devoured books–over 50 a year, for a few years in a row, and I was always writing for school (where I studied television and English).
In university I learned a lot about writing through studying the craft, and through reading, and from there I mostly just tried to write something that I would like. I did some original research on Young Adult literature and planned on studying literature for my MFA before opting to work in television instead. For me it was about learning about storytelling and literature, instead of learning to write, but in a way those things go together.
If you don’t make a living exclusively writing, what is your day job? How, in any way, does it relate to your life as a writer?
A: So, I have a very successful day job as a broadcast producer for corporate shows as well as esports events in Toronto. But I’ve also done A LOT of things at a pretty high level. Not only did I write Victory Lap, and I’ve made television shows, but I also have had a storied career as an amateur professional Counter Strike player.
I don’t know if I really consider myself a writer despite having published a novel but I do consider myself someone with many skills that I excel at. Some of these benefit my day job. Some of these benefit my writing. Ultimately, I just think we should strive to commit to the things we do and do them well. I know this isn’t really answering the question, but it’s sort of how I feel about it.
How well do you handle criticism, either while writing, editing, or reviews? Do you ever use that criticism to change your story?
K: As an aspiring himbo, I rely heavily on the critiques of beta readers and editors and other assorted people smarter than me. I have the utmost respect for their opinions—even when I choose to ignore them. Which isn’t often. Most of the time, the final product of my stories is very much a team effort, and I can never thank my friends and peers enough for their help.
“What If” Scenarios
If you could have one person that you admire, living or dead, read your book, who would it be?
K: If Neil Gaiman ever read my books, my heart would probably stop beating and I would die happy and fulfilled. If he read them and enjoyed them, my corpse would then spontaneously combust. Notice me, senpai.
A wealthy reader buys 100 copies of your book and tells you to hand them out to anyone you wish. Who do you give them to?
A: Any queer person who wants it! This is actually why I insisted on making the book available for free on itch… I think there should be no barrier of access for people who want to read queer and trans stories! Oh, and libraries.
Your favorite character that you’ve written comes to life for one day. What do you do together for 24 hours?
K: My favourite character I’ve ever written is Leaf, a small Ent-like tree boy in my current work in progress, Goblin Girl. He’s a cross between Ariel in The Little Mermaid and Vivi in Final Fantasy IX, and he’s just the most precious little guy. I would take him out for ice cream or a movie, or maybe to a museum, so that he may learn more of the curious customs of us “squishies.”
You are transported into your book for one day. What role do you play? How do you alter the events of the story?
A: I would be Kiki’s sagely trans mentor. Mentorship between trans fems is actually really important, because we can’t just look up to our parents, or older siblings, or famous people even for a guide on how to become actualized humans.
So if I were there, I would show Kiki that there’s a fun and exciting life out there for her full of love and friends and joy, and that it gets better. I think if there was someone there who could help her properly, she probably would have avoided a lot of the drama in the final act, so maybe that would change.
You’re offered a contract to rewrite your book in another genre. Which genre do you choose and why?
K: I would expand the line about how Victory Lap is not a horror story, and then turn it fully into a horror story. I want to go full Archie. Maybe Josh turns into a zombie! Kiki cracks open her Latin textbook and accidentally summons a demon, whoops. Mel easily carries the team as a vampire slayer.
Your book becomes a best seller. What do you do next?
K: Write more books! I have a weird amount of anxiety about how many ideas I have for stories and how I’ll die before completing them all, so the sooner I can write full time and exorcise these demons, the better.
A: Create a show bible and pitch the show to streaming companies!
Would you rather own your own bookstore or your own publishing house, and what would you sell or publish?
K: I’d rather run my own publishing house with the goal of promoting marginalized voices in every genre, putting money toward marketing and boosting mid-list and underrepresented writers and stories, and specifically advocating for the deplatforming of bigoted writers. Everyone thinks publishing is left-leaning even while they give war criminals and famous racists book deals, but I would want to do my part to run an actual leftist publishing house and replace some of the crustier gatekeepers.
A: Owning a bookstore is a dream of mine. I read a lot of books, and my favourite job I’ve ever had was pulling coffee in a comic bookstore/cafe hybrid in the Toronto beaches. So, my bookstore would sell a curated collection of books I like and queer indie gems, as well as great coffee. Not a question in my mind.
You have final say over who reads the audio book version of your story. Who do you choose?
A: I’m pretty sure we’re casting ourselves in the audio book version of our book! Practicing my precociousness to play Kiki.
Your story gets picked up by a streaming service to make into a series. What service would you want it to be, and would you want them to follow your story closely, or would you rather see what directions they take it in?
A: I think Victory Lap would be great as a Netflix limited series, but I don’t think it would translate well 1:1. I think the slice of life elements in the beginning of the book would make for great TV, but the side characters would need more screen time. As an ensemble story it has a lot of potential, especially with the unpublished Mel chapters to lean on. Obviously, I would produce it myself.
Just for Fun
Your trademark feature.
A: Vans over Chucks.
Food you’d like to win a lifetime supply of.
K: Thai Express pad thai is my favourite food in the world. I shudder to think how powerful I’d become with a lifetime supply of it.
A: Soy burritos, definitely.
Your favorite podcast.
K: Print Run is my favourite podcast, as well as the first podcast I ever seriously listened to. Hosted by literary agents Laura Zats and Erik Hane, every episode they go over major publishing topics and scandals using their expertise in the industry. It’s both hilarious and informative and I can’t recommend it enough.
A book that you recommend everyone reads.
A: I have a lot of these! But the most recent one I’d have to suggest is probably Little Blue Encyclopedia (For Vivian), by Hazel Jane Plante. It’s a beautiful little book about trans love, trans longing, trans grief, and the way our mentors become a part of us. Highly recc.
Your most unrealistic dream job.
K: Full-time writer. Ha… (I’d elaborate to make it less sad, but even most professionally published writers need a side hustle. Pay people in the arts more, you cowards!)
A: I keep on stumbling into my dream jobs. Maybe owning a small bookstore/cafe, or a cute cafe at all in a small town somewhere, would be a cute way to retire.
Favorite Halloween costume ever.
K: My favourite Halloween costume is actually what Josh wears in Victory Lap! In grade 8, I went trick-or-treating as Morpheus from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, and it’s all been downhill since then. Dressing as Glimmer for my family’s She-Ra group costume in 2019 is a close second, though.
A talent you have and a talent you wish you had.
K: I follow a lot of visual artists on Twitter and I’m intensely jealous of every single one of them and their beautiful art! One day I hope to really focus on improving my drawing and general art skills, but until then I will be over here on the side-lines, cheering on all the artists!
A: I’m very very good at making coffee! I wish I could paint, I love paintings so much and want to someday own a beautiful painting collection. Currently, any time I sit down at a canvas my painting skills are that of an especially skilled fifth grader. So, lots of room to improve.
Buy it!
Buy a copy of Victory Lap here, and help support local bookstores! This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales.
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This book sounds really good! We enjoy coming of age YA and haven’t read many set in Canada.