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A review by clairetbartlett
Middle School's a Drag, You Better Werk! by Greg Howard
4.0
This was fun, and even made me tear up (with happiness) at the end.
Michael Pruitt is always looking for his next business venture. So when a "wrong kind of popular" kid from school asks him to help launch his drag kid career, he thinks he's stumbled on a gazillion dollar idea. Coco Caliente, Mistress of Mayhem and Madness is the first client for Michael's talent agency, but soon follow a comedian, a girl and her blind dog who do tricks, an impersonator, and a girl who interprets dreams.
Michael navigates school, bullies, his "evil" sister, finding gigs for his clients, a sick grandfather, a first crush...as well as slowly coming out and figuring out how to be proud. There were definitely moments I cringed, but I think this was a result of my investment in the characters. Michael is a funny, relatable, not always great main character, and side characters are given varying levels of development. There's a hint of redemption for a bully, but more importantly, a nice demonstration that there is no one way to be gay.
There were a couple of descriptive choices the writer made that bugged me, but I don't think kids will be as bothered by the frequent description of people moving hair out of their faces.
Michael Pruitt is always looking for his next business venture. So when a "wrong kind of popular" kid from school asks him to help launch his drag kid career, he thinks he's stumbled on a gazillion dollar idea. Coco Caliente, Mistress of Mayhem and Madness is the first client for Michael's talent agency, but soon follow a comedian, a girl and her blind dog who do tricks, an impersonator, and a girl who interprets dreams.
Michael navigates school, bullies, his "evil" sister, finding gigs for his clients, a sick grandfather, a first crush...as well as slowly coming out and figuring out how to be proud. There were definitely moments I cringed, but I think this was a result of my investment in the characters. Michael is a funny, relatable, not always great main character, and side characters are given varying levels of development. There's a hint of redemption for a bully, but more importantly, a nice demonstration that there is no one way to be gay.
There were a couple of descriptive choices the writer made that bugged me, but I don't think kids will be as bothered by the frequent description of people moving hair out of their faces.