Deposing Nathan is a 2019 young adult fiction book by American author Zack Smedley (born 1995).

Deposing Nathan was published by Page Street in May 2019.^[1] It tells the story of two teen boys who become best friends but eventually have a deadly falling-out, resulting in one of them being deposed and made to tell the story of what happened between them.^[2] Smedley conducted extensive research on the book's wide variety of subjects, including spending nearly six months studying law and completing several medical courses at his university.^[3]

Deposing Nathan earned a starred review from Kirkus Magazine^[4] and was praised by the New York Times as "a superb story, told in an original and masterly way."^[5] School Library Journal also reviewed the book favorably, writing, "At its heart a story about complex relationships, the structure adds layers of suspense that will have readers constantly reevaluating events."^[6] The book was included on several year-end lists, including Kirkus's Best YA Books of 2019^[7] and ALA's 2020 Rainbow List.^[8] It was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award^[9][10] and was the winner of the 2019 YA Bisexual Book Award.^[11]

Smedley was born in 1995 in Southern Maryland and attended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where he earned a degree in chemical engineering.^[3] He wrote his first full manuscript in eighth grade^[12] and began querying it at the end of his junior year of high school, to which it was "rejected unanimously."^[12] Smedley cycled through several more projects before writing what would become his debut novel, Deposing Nathan, during his senior year of college.^[3]

He is openly bisexual.^[13]

Smedley's sophomore novel, Tonight We Rule the World, is scheduled to be published in Fall 2021.^[14]

Won

• 2019 YA Bisexual Book Award for Deposing Nathan (Page Street, 2019)

Nominated

• 2020 Lambda Literary Award for Deposing Nathan (Page Street, 2019)