Lio Min’s 2022 novel,* Beating Heart Baby, *begins with a charming queer Filipino high school senior trumpet player named Santi being driven to his new high school by his beloved guardian, Aya, taking in the sight of “the city of a thousand cities,” as he calls it—as beautiful an evocation of Los Angeles as any I’ve ever heard. Santi is now going to be a senior at De Longpre High School, his first day spent in large part by meeting the members of the Sunshowers, the school’s crack marching band, perhaps more popular than any particular sports team at the school. Aya is an alum as well, and her mentor from her own high school days there is Cap, the band leader, who immediately becomes Santi’s protector and mentor too. Most importantly, Santi meets the intense and beautiful Suwa, the star trumpet player. Santi quickly says the wrong thing to him, seemingly making an enemy of him off the bat.…