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
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
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