THE NO-GIRLFRIEND RULE

Radical statement: Girls like nerdy things, too.

Covington, Kentucky, high school senior Hollis Beckwith wants to join her boyfriend Chris’ weekly Secrets & Sorcery tabletop gaming sessions. But the group has a hard-and-fast No-Girlfriend Rule. Frustrated, Hollis finds another S&S group via a flyer at the local game shop, one specifically billed as a “girl-friendly, LGBTQIA+ friendly campaign.” Even though her anxiety disorder makes it hard for her to step out of her well-established comfort zone, the first in-person session goes well, and Hollis comes away with a new character and a new perspective on the game. What began as a desire to have something more in common with Chris becomes an outlet through which Hollis finds valuable things she hasn’t had before—confidence, artistic inspiration, and relationships that are more honest and open. Though Randall sometimes casually switches into game play scenes, the focus in this fun story that steadily blooms is very much on the players themselves. The narrative shows a variety of different types of gamers, and it calls out some of the toxic assumptions and gatekeeping associated with the community. Hollis and Chris are white. Hollis is fat and feels good about her body; members of her all-girls’ campaign party include a trans Black girl, two Colombian American sisters, and a lesbian with South Asian heritage.

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