A visually rich story that speaks truth to power for LGBTQ+ kids and their families and allies.
Like its protagonist, this thick picture book with an unusually small trim defies stereotype.
Demetrius, a queer Black kid whose “superpower” is “sensitivity,” feels “free” only before kindergarten. For years after that, schoolkids taunt Demetrius with homophobic slurs (represented with asterisks), and even some teachers bully Demetrius for wearing flowered clothes and giggling with girls. The unconditional acceptance of family feels far away as “scared [and] scarred” people terrorize the child. Demetrius’ fiercely protective mother confronts those who criticize her child’s gender expression, frequently with profanity (also asterisked in dialogue) and even in church, which she abandons after telling a woman there to mind her own business. During a church daydream, Demetrius converses midair with Black Jesus about love of all kinds—a conversation interrupted (still in the daydream) by Billy Porter, Tony winner for the Broadway musical Kinky Boots and Emmy winner for his role as Pray Tell in FX’s Pose, a drama about New York’s gender-norm–defying ballroom culture. Demetrius’ father also unfailingly affirms his child, as do some adults at school along with schoolmate and podcast partner Moxie, who’s also a queer kid of color. With minimal text per page, this book feels handmade, from the lettering to the eclectic collages, composed of photos, fabrics, hair, sequins, and more. Characters resemble paper dolls and often appear identical on consecutive pages, which sometimes creates an odd sense of stasis that slows the story’s momentum. Nevertheless, queer parents and kids alike will appreciate the book’s uplifting message.
A visually rich story that speaks truth to power for LGBTQ+ kids and their families and allies. (Picture book. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 26, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-948340-29-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Dottir Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
Though it lacks nuance, still a must-read.
Tyler is the son of generations of Vermont dairy farmers.
Mari is the Mexican-born daughter of undocumented migrant laborers whose mother has vanished in a perilous border crossing. When Tyler’s father is disabled in an accident, the only way the family can afford to keep the farm is by hiring Mari’s family. As Tyler and Mari’s friendship grows, the normal tensions of middle-school boy-girl friendships are complicated by philosophical and political truths. Tyler wonders how he can be a patriot while his family breaks the law. Mari worries about her vanished mother and lives in fear that she will be separated from her American-born sisters if la migra comes. Unashamedly didactic, Alvarez’s novel effectively complicates simple equivalencies between what’s illegal and what’s wrong. Mari’s experience is harrowing, with implied atrocities and immigration raids, but equally full of good people doing the best they can. The two children find hope despite the unhappily realistic conclusions to their troubles, in a story which sees the best in humanity alongside grim realities.
Though it lacks nuance, still a must-read. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-375-85838-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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