False Face by Josh Galarza

The Coolest Boy at School Has a Night Job

False Face follows Rusty, a high school student fascinated by Todd’s seemingly effortless ability to be openly queer and still remain one of the school’s cool kids. What Rusty cannot see is the second life behind that confidence: after dark, Todd works as a secret agent helping vulnerable queer teenagers escape danger.

His Moms Are Running the Mission

Todd’s adoptive mothers serve as his handlers, turning the family home into the support system behind his covert rescues. It is a wonderfully heightened setup, but the stakes are grounded in young people who need protection and in the pressure Todd carries while performing normal teenage confidence by day.

Rusty’s admiration therefore rests on an incomplete picture. Todd may look fearless in the hallway, yet the identity he presents at school coexists with secrets, responsibility, and risks that complicate the very idea of being fully known.

Two Identities, One Question of Forgiveness

Josh Galarza’s YA story uses its secret-agent turn to explore identity, self-discovery, and forgiveness between two boys. The action hook matters, but so does the emotional fallout when admiration meets the truth and carefully separated lives can no longer stay apart.

False Face arrives October 20. It pairs queer teenage self-invention with a rescue thriller, then asks what honesty costs when a mask was created to keep other people safe.