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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
Super cute! And I think I understood Shakespeare more from reading this than from the university courses I took on it? So glad there's a) a bisexual middle grade/kids' book now and it's awesome and b) a middle grade/kids' book that has a girl who has a crush on a girl and it's awesome!
If you're wondering about the representation: I thought I heard that this book included the word "bisexual", but it didn't. Still, it was very clear that Mattie acknowledges that she has the capacity to have crushes on boys and girls. Also: Mattie worries about how people will react to her crushing on a girl, but the only homophobia in the book is one kid saying "That's gay" about something and the teacher and his classmate (the popular girl who's been kind of a jerk otherwise) both immediately saying that wasn't okay and that being gay is nothing to be ashamed of. Mattie comes out to her sister, teacher, and friends without them really batting an eyelash. She doesn't come out to her parents yet, but doesn't seem worried about it. She asks Gemma (her crush) out on a date as the end, and she accepts.
If you're wondering about the representation: I thought I heard that this book included the word "bisexual", but it didn't. Still, it was very clear that Mattie acknowledges that she has the capacity to have crushes on boys and girls. Also:
When I think of this book, the expression "beautiful cinnamon roll too pure for this world" comes to mind. While there were a few places where the story felt more like slightly heavy-handed attempts to explain Shakespeare to kids and sell them on his work, the vast majority of this book was a joy. All the cliches of book reactions were true: I laughed, I cried, I stayed up way too late reading it. And I'm an adult who almost never reads middle grade.
Things I loved about this book:
-It's not just a story *about* Romeo and Juliet, it's (to some extent) a *retelling* of Romeo and Juliet. It's great fun to see how the original Romeo and Juliet elements get mapped onto a contemporary setting. The Montagues and Capulets as rival middle-school cliques -- brilliant.
-Characters felt surprisingly well-rounded, for example: a friend who can also be a little obnoxious; a sister who can be a bit spoiled/bratty but is also a very loving and caring big sister to Mattie; a handsome athletic boy who's more than the dumb jock he pretends to be; and a "popular girl" antagonist who also stands up to a classmate about his homophobic remark.
-The way even the scariest parts of coming out to yourself/others are portrayed very gently. Even when Mattie feels nervous and a little lost, she's still a generally happy and well-adjusted kid.
-There were some pretty hilarious lines.
(List continues with spoilers):
-The way Mattie comes out to people and they just absorb the information matter-of-factly without it having to be a big production
-The fact that Mattie didn't come out to everyone or to her parents by the end of the book! The question "Are you out?" doesn't always have a simple yes-or-no answer, and I loved seeing a reflection of that more nuanced reality.
-The way almost everyone Mattie knows is supportive and accepting of gay people, but she's still hesitant to identify as anything other than "having a crush on Gemma." That felt very true to my experience.
Things I didn't love:
-The Asian friend is "the smart one." While she does definitely have other, arguably more salient, character traits and isn't a cardboard cutout, it would have been nice if the blonde friend had been "the smart one" and the Asian friend the weird, outgoing, borderline-obnoxious one.
(Spoiler)
-I wouldn't mind if I never read another instance of a character being mad that someone didn't come out to them sooner. However, they're not *very* mad or for very long, and they're thirteen-year-old girls, so it's easy to see this as a reasonably realistic reaction given the "tell your friends everything" culture often present in teen girl friendships.
On the whole, I want to hug this book and hug all the characters and buy a copy for every school in the English-speaking world and send the book back in time to my middle-school self.
Things I loved about this book:
-It's not just a story *about* Romeo and Juliet, it's (to some extent) a *retelling* of Romeo and Juliet. It's great fun to see how the original Romeo and Juliet elements get mapped onto a contemporary setting. The Montagues and Capulets as rival middle-school cliques -- brilliant.
-Characters felt surprisingly well-rounded, for example: a friend who can also be a little obnoxious; a sister who can be a bit spoiled/bratty but is also a very loving and caring big sister to Mattie; a handsome athletic boy who's more than the dumb jock he pretends to be; and a "popular girl" antagonist who also stands up to a classmate about his homophobic remark.
-The way even the scariest parts of coming out to yourself/others are portrayed very gently. Even when Mattie feels nervous and a little lost, she's still a generally happy and well-adjusted kid.
-There were some pretty hilarious lines.
(List continues with spoilers):
-The fact that Mattie didn't come out to everyone or to her parents by the end of the book! The question "Are you out?" doesn't always have a simple yes-or-no answer, and I loved seeing a reflection of that more nuanced reality.
-The way almost everyone Mattie knows is supportive and accepting of gay people, but she's still hesitant to identify as anything other than "having a crush on Gemma." That felt very true to my experience.
Things I didn't love:
-The Asian friend is "the smart one." While she does definitely have other, arguably more salient, character traits and isn't a cardboard cutout, it would have been nice if the blonde friend had been "the smart one" and the Asian friend the weird, outgoing, borderline-obnoxious one.
(Spoiler)
On the whole, I want to hug this book and hug all the characters and buy a copy for every school in the English-speaking world and send the book back in time to my middle-school self.
