#queer middle grade

[lainahastoomuchsparetime]

In case you missed it, I posted my favourite blog post of the year today! (Click the photo to go to it.)

[the-dust-jacket]

[wahlpaper]

Rick Review

Review of Rick

Rick by Alex Gino #Asexual #Aromantic #MiddleGrade CW: Queerphobia, Arophobic Microaggressions, Almost-Use of a Dead name, Grief, Past Death

Rick by Alex Gino

CW: Queerphobia, Arophobic Microaggressions, Almost-Use of a Dead name, Grief, Past Death of a Spouse, Violence, Mentions of Vomit, Mentions of Harry Potter, Transphobic Microaggressions, Past Bullying, Small Act of Arson, Parental Disconnect, Suspension, Pressure Surrounding Pronouns

4.5/5

Before starting to read Alex Gino's Rick, I considered that it might tie into Melissa, also written by Gino. When I couldn't find any easy answers, I decided to jump into the book and find out along the way. My answer is that Melissa is an important person to Rick and I probably should have read Melissa first. However, Rick included enough details about her to have its own story make sense on its own. In summary, you'll be okay if you read the books out of order!

Rick is a book I wish I had when I was a kid and that I'm glad youngsters today can enjoy. The main character explores asexuality and aromanticism for himself while being surrounded by a whole Rainbow Spectrum (that's a book reference!) of other identities.

Rick is starting middle school, which comes with many changes for him. New school, new priorities, getting to ride the city bus, and starting to visit his Grandpa Ray. When he hears about an after school club for queer kids, he starts to wonder if that might be a place for him. His best friend and family are always talking about feelings for other people, but Rick's never experienced these feelings. As his first month of school progresses, the club decides to put on a cabaret. Alongside the visits with his grandpa, these things start to make Rick's thoughts clearer to him.

While I absolutely recommend this book to older readers, please keep in mind that it is a middle grade book/chapter book. It's about middle school, told from a middle schooler's perspective. It makes a point of being educational, and each chapter is like a mini-story that adds to the overarching one. None of these are bad things, but it's good to know what to expect going in. You can also expect good pacing, exclusively well-written characters, and fun chapter titles. The only inconsistency in Gino's writing is when they slip into Melissa's perspective. It was likely a force of habit or a nostalgic move from having written her book first, but it feels out of place when everything else is from Rick's point of view. Otherwise, the writing in this book is quite good and I will be reading other works by Gino in the future.

In Rick the students are trying to raise money for more queer books to go into the school library. I think this book is exactly the kind of book that they would want. Very early in the book the reader gets reassurance that Rick's parents would support him if he was gay. Although there is a homophobic character in the book and some arophobic microaggressions, it's made clear that these things are not okay. A lot of identities get explored and explained in Rick, such as pansexual, enby/non-binary, gay, trans, and of course, aromantic and asexual. The book also covers topics such as drag, preferred pronouns, being raised by two women, and the history of terms for the queer community. Everything is presented through the characters in the book, which keeps the plot exciting! Rick goes above and beyond for representation.

If you decide to read Rick, I recommend trying the audiobook as it is read by Alex Gino. If you wish to know more about the queer community or aroace folks in general, this is a good place to look. Even if you are already familiar with these topics, this is a cute read that provides the world with more queer representation. Give it a chance!

[gouldnavy]

BOOKS I’VE READ IN 2021

king and the dragonflies by kacen callender read: feb 28 rating: four stars 13/?

[mplchameleon]

As Pride month comes to a close, how about some queer graphic novel recommendations? Here are a few book lists that feature a range of queer identities, for teens in grades 6 and up:

20 Must-Read LGBTQ Comics for Teens and Young Adults

Find adventure, love, magic, and acceptance in these 20 must-read LGBTQ comics for teens and young adults. It's a queer comic extravaganza!

15 of the Best LGBTQ Comics for Middle Graders | Book Riot

These adorable and uplifting LGBTQ comics for middle graders are here to provide hope, joy, and lots of good times. Give them a read!

[the-dust-jacket]

The obligatory rainbow spine post: Happy Pride!

Pictured: And They Were Roommates, A Tale of Two Princes, Recommended Reading, Summer Girls, A Little Bit Country, Hurricane Child, This Ends In Embers, You Don’t Have a Shot, Leo Martino Steals Back His Heart, The Duke Steals Hearts and Other Body Parts, Renegade Girls, A World Worth Saving, True Love and Other Impossible Odds, If We Were a Movie, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

[ilikereadingactually]

The Otherwoods

The Otherwoods by Justine Pucella Winans

i think this one will be a satisfying read for the middle grade age group! it struck me as neither transcendent nor unpleasant, but somewhere in the middle. it's got many of the usual components of a scary fantasy adventure: reluctant magical protagonist, someone who needs rescuing, an animal companion, monsters and a frightening other world to traverse, and guides along the way whose motives are uncertain, and a few twists toward the end that are not mind-blowing to an adult, but definitely less predictable to younger readers with less experience of narrative structure. and the ending satisfies, so all in all it does what it needs to do!

the big highlight for me is the protagonist, River, who's nonbinary. it still feels pretty rare to get trans and nonbinary main characters in middle grade books, and i think the clarity with which River's identity is presented and explored is just about right for the target age--validating for the trans kids reading, and encouraging empathy and understanding in cis readers. this is definitely a good one for school libraries and middle grade rec lists trying to get more nonbinary representation!

the deets

how i read it: an e-galley from NetGalley. sadly the actual file was physically a little hard to read, it kept giving me trouble, so it took me longer than usual, but i powered through!

try this if you: dig spoopy books, have a lot of feelings about cats (the cat makes it through just fine dw), like a straightforward adventure and a sweet chaste crush, loved Monsters, Inc. but wanted it to be scarier, or know a kid who is into any of the above and/or would like a queer story!

a line i really liked: regarding my fave character, Charles, the monster under River's bed

Charles kept looking into River's eyes for a while, probably too long. It made River's skin crawl, but they managed not to tear away from his gaze. Finally, Charles pointed one sharp limb in the direction of Pancakes. "I should take Pancakes?" River asked. It was possible the monster was asking permission to eat Pancakes, but River thought they could be an optimist this once.

pub date: September 12, 2023!

[auslgbtqya]

Snapshots by Helen Manos

1995

I can’t find a blurb for this book online.

Goodreads

Taken from ‘So Gay: a List of Australian Children’s and Young Adult Contemporary Realist Novels with LGBQ Characters 1985 – 2015 (plus three remixes)’ by Jenny Pausacker

*Spoiler Warning*

...while an adult reader of Helen Manos’s Snapshots would quickly realise that the main character’s mother has taken her to stay with a gay male couple, one of whom is dying of AIDS, the nearest Manos comes to making this explicit is when she describes Angelo’s funeral, saying:

Simon read a poem and talked about the friendship and love he and Angelo had for each other … The man from the Chinese restaurant, who wore a red ribbon on his jacket, cried and talked about other friends who had died like Angelo. (pp 62 – 63)

I don’t think Manos gives enough detail to convey either gayness or AIDS to anyone who isn’t already aware of them and, given that the novel was directed towards junior or primary school readers, I excluded it on the basis that it doesn’t identify its LGBQ characters in terms that its intended audience could be expected to understand.