The Making of Shea Macmathar

A contemporary YA coming-of-age novel with literary voice, emotional stakes, and a timely reckoning with identity, class, and belonging. Complete at 75k words.

Sixteen-year-old Shea Macmathar—queer, neurodivergent—has survived his conservative evangelical community by staying invisible. Until the school’s Patriot Parade, when he shows up in full Dolly Parton glam and ignites a scandal. Desperate to decode the rules of belonging, he joins a cotillion class he hopes will teach him what everyone else seems to know intuitively. It’s only a few miles away, but a world apart in wealth, expectation, and social code.

At Fitzroy, he’s mistaken for “MacJesus,” a legendary class clown from his high school. Rather than correct the mix-up, Shea leans into the persona to avoid being recognized as the boy behind “Dollygate.” With help from his Machiavellian Aunt Kiki and a secret playbook he dubs Code X, he climbs the social ladder toward a coveted Brotherhood cuff—the ultimate status symbol among the ruling clique. The deception opens doors, including to Zack, a golden boy with his own secrets. But only his dance partner, Lola—a Tori Amos–loving truth-teller—sees the mask for what it is.

Caught between two worlds—his evangelical community and the rarefied cotillion culture—Shea learns that both demand a form of self-erasure as the price of belonging. As book bans and culture wars fuel a rising “family values” crusade, vigilante arsons begin to edge closer to home. With the Fitzroy Ball approaching, he must decide: keep hiding behind the MacJesus mask, or risk everything to be seen as himself.

Set in 1998 Dallas, during the national reckoning that followed Matthew Shepard’s murder, Shea Macmathar isn’t about coming out in rainbow-saturated safe spaces—and for many contemporary YA readers, that reality will resonate. Still, it finds hope: in friendship, and in the quietly radical act of showing up.

STATUS: Currently, as of April 14, 2025, Joshua is seeking literary representation for The Making of Shea Macmathar.