First Position (Be Right Back)

Fifteen-year-old Austin lives two lives: the disciplined ballet dancer everyone sees, and the kid quietly holding his family together.

Austin has given everything to his world: his dance, his heart, his trust. When a serious accident onstage raises questions no one can answer, Austin travels back to his hometown, hoping a summer with his grandparents will clear his head.

No matter how hard he tries, his summer no longer unfolds along the neat, deliberate steps he once choreographed for himself. His parents keep fighting, his boyfriend’s patience is wearing thin, and brief moments of lost awareness raise more questions than answers.

Austin clings to the hope that he can carry it all alone. He always has. But the truth, it turns out, is far more serious than Austin, his friends, or his parents ever imagined.

First Position is Book 1 in Lori Wolf-Heffner's compelling YA contemporary series Be Right Back, which follows Austin, a gay teen navigating family conflict, disability, and his love for ballet. For readers 13–16.