Some Rainbow

A city on its last legs. A past he can't escape. And a retro punk-rock rhythm that might just save his life.

Eighteen-year-old Phil Croydon has officially reached his breaking point. After an explosive final confrontation with his abusive mother leaves his family bonds permanently shattered, Phil grabs his Walkman, a duffel bag of cassette tapes, and the last of his cash to catch a one-way bus out of Reading.

Arriving in the gritty, working-class neighborhood of 1984 South Pittsburgh, Phil finds a temporary sanctuary under the roof of his fierce, no-nonsense grandmother. But rebuilding a life from scratch in a decaying city isn't easy. Trapped between sensory-overload typing classes at the local community college and the overwhelming anxiety of meeting new people, Phil is convinced he doesn't fit in anywhere-especially when it comes to his own identity.

Everything changes when he steps inside Disaster Records. Fueled by the raw, chaotic energy of the underground punk scene and a fast, unpredictable new friendship with the theatrical Julie, Phil begins to glimpse a world outside his own trauma. But as ghosts from his past refuse to stay buried and a generational cycle of addiction threatens to pull him under, Phil must decide if he has the courage to stop running-and finally fight for his own future.

Perfect for fans of gritty historical fiction and emotional LGBTQ+ coming-of-age dramas, Some Rainbow is a poignant, deeply nostalgic journey about finding your chosen family when the rest of the world fades to black.

Awards & Praise

• Long-listed for the 2025 Chanticleer International Book Awards (CIBA), Somerset Prize

• "A delightful queer coming-of-age tale set in the 1980s... Woods's prose is sharp and on point, finding humor in the ridiculous while beautifully capturing the spirit of the era, from the Reagan administration to Echo & the Bunnymen. Phil is sympathetic nearly to a fault-though no angel, readers will root for him. The result is a funny, sweet, and sad tale filled with characters that linger long after the last page."
- The BookLife Prize