The first book in a YA contemporary fantasy duology in which a teen, Gem, finds out they’re a reincarnated god from another world.

GODLY HEATHENS
by H.E. Edgmon
Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press, November 2023

Maybe I have always just been bad at being human because I’m not one.  Gem Echols is a nonbinary, Seminole teen living in a tiny town in Georgia. Known for being their peers’ queer awakening, Gem leans hard on charm to disguise the anxious mess they are beneath the surface. The only person privy to their authentic self is another trans kid, Enzo, who’s a thousand long, painful miles away in Brooklyn. But even Enzo doesn’t know about Gem’s dreams, haunting visions of magic and violence that have always felt too real. So how the hell does Willa Mae Hardy know about them? The strange new girl in town acts like she and Gem are old companions and seems to know things about them they’ve never told anyone else. When Gem is attacked by a stranger claiming to be the Goddess of Death, Willa Mae saves their life and finally offers some answers. She and Gem are reincarnated gods who’ve known and loved each other across lifetimes. But Gem—or at least who Gem used to be—hasn’t always been the most benevolent deity. They’ve made a lot of enemies in the pantheon—enemies who, like the Goddess of Death, will keep coming. It’s a good thing they’ve still got Enzo, but as worlds collide, and the past catches up with the present, Gem will discover that everyone has something to hide.

H.E. Edgmon (he/they) is a questionable influence, a dog person, and an author of books both irreverent and radicalizing. Born and raised in the rural south, he currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with his eccentric little family. His stories imagine Indigenous worlds and center queer kids saving each other. H.E. has never once gotten enough sleep and probably isn’t going to anytime soon. His highly acclaimed THE WITCH KING duology is out now.