Scan barcode
A review by aromarrie
Small Town Pride by Phil Stamper
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
this was such a sweet & inspiring read!! i wanted to start off the new year with something positive (and also, for aesthetic purposes, have this cover match my last 2022 read's cover as like a full-circle kinda thing) and this middle-grade contemporary was the perfect way to keep me boosted for what's to come in 2023.
this author has become very familiar to me with his ya novels, some of them becoming a comfort for me in the way he depicts the different relationships his characters are a part of. family & friendships hit me hard in fiction and in this queer novel, it was no different as i read about jake, a kid from a small town (or village, as his friend jenna points out) in Ohio who navigates being the first to be out in his community. in trying to gain some hope & pride for his own future, he and his friends tackle putting together their first Pride parade in Barton Springs. there's some challenges in the way, however, and it's in the conservative views that some of the adults have that go against any Pride, as well as a mayor who rather than actually tackling issues that can help progress the village, goes out of their way to bury them, silencing the voices of people who are trying to stand up for marginalized voices and other communtiies.
one of the important things about this book was that even with the difficulties that came with trying to throw this celebration for LGBTQ+ youth, the bigoted voices were never given a spotlight to shine and we got to see characters who expressed hope & excitement for this event and who genuinely wanted to help jake. i loved that of these characters, jake's parents really made me the most happy in the way they supported their kid because not every child gets to have that, and so the way that they pour so much love for him hit hard in its own way. it was all in the small & innocuous (but still significant!) details like when jake's mom would give him McDonalds because it was turning out to be his fast food favorite (probably next to Taco Bell?) and also when his dad would sit down and listen to jake about his games, specifically this one virtual game he plays called Songbird Hollow.
that detail was really special to me because this virtual game to jake was like a mirror of Barton Springs, except on this other side the community was full of harmony and was a place where jake's virtual character could be accepted as he goes on these farming quests and builds a life with his avatar boyfriend who eventually turns to his husband. these forums that are connected to the game link jake to a whole group of real people who are loud & positive about his queer identity and so he gets to have that nice atmosphere that is missing from his real life. i think the use of this game in the story was so genius of the author because it really did play as a metaphor for jake's actual hometown, and while at first, it did seem like this picturesque landscape of whimsy & adventure, as the story goes on, we see how there's a difference between playing farmer and marrying a guy obsessed with his chickens vs. living your actual life, where the village you live tries to emulate that same picture-perfect utopia, but is really only shushing the real life people who have real problems and who are way more complex than a virtual game.
in reality, things aren't as harmonous as they might seem on screen because there's always different challenges to face and different people to have to confront because not everyone shares the same ideals/views. it was really hard to see jake have to reckon with some of those people, and to have to feel as if the only chance he could have in belonging anywhere be if he moves to some big city where being queer is something to be celebrated, not hidden like some dirty secret in a small town. i like that rather than facing down that road, the author expressed how there's many queer folks like jake who don't want to leave their hometown; who find a lot of pride at being one of the many residents who are so vibrant as a community when it comes to their sports games and their many town festivals. to have a festival jake wanted to throw for himself and all the other queer people of the village be challenged against because it's seen as some kind of disturbance in the fabric of that community was such a huge let-down, and it only went to show that in all that "small-town pride", some of those residents can only feel proud of so much before gods forbid anyone wants to express themselves to the fullest.
there's still so much hope, though!! and it's all in the characters. like i mentioned jake's parents from before, there was also jake's friend jenna, who is such a sweetheart that gets her own small arc in the story as we see her explore her different interests and make her own breakthroughs. i loved how much of a go-getter jenna was and how enthusiastic she was in trying to find ways to help jake in making this Pride festival a reality. her rivalry with this other character, brett, who becomes another friend of jake's, was very juvenile, as expected in middle-grade fiction, but i liked the way that the author developed this evolving group of friends as we see not just jenna & brett there to support jake, but they all support each other, too. brett's own journey with his mom being the mayor and his troubles at school was just as emotional as the other characters, and i was really happy to see how over the course of the story, we really got to see these kids talk to each other and try to navigate these challenges. one factor that's very common in all of the author's works thus far is not just in the queer representation but also mental health, where in this story, we got to see brett explore his own anxiety. it was just such a comfort knowing that struggles like his aren't being ignored simply because it's written through the eyes of children, because kids do experience hard stuff like that and it brings a lot of hope to these young readers seeing characters who get help and who are given a voice to help make them grow.
brett's mom isn't a villain by any means, she's only one of the many characters in this book who are very complex because even as adults, there's still so much for them to learn and truths to reckon with. her involvement as the mayor and on the town council was a little difficult to read about, to be honest, because seeing how much control she had bordered on stifling and it made it hard to see how any change could be made if there's so much corruption at the top. thankfully, the residents of Barton Springs, both young and old, show what a real community is like and in this story, we get to see how all of them try to band together and show what pride really means for all of them, and that includes kids like jake.
i always say i want to read more middle grade and i always fall short because there's just so many adult books nowadays that hold my attention, but reading this story here just solidified my wish to get to read more of these books about youth because there's a different tone that can't be replicated with adult and even ya fiction. there were moments where i genuinely laughed and smiled because of jake's perspective and the funny way he regarded certain things that only a kid could, so it was just all together a really nice experience. i'm thrilled to finally have gotten to read this book and i'm very hopeful in this village's characters and the future for their small town. i can't wait to read more from this author, i know it'll be such a delight so here's to the new year!!
this author has become very familiar to me with his ya novels, some of them becoming a comfort for me in the way he depicts the different relationships his characters are a part of. family & friendships hit me hard in fiction and in this queer novel, it was no different as i read about jake, a kid from a small town (or village, as his friend jenna points out) in Ohio who navigates being the first to be out in his community. in trying to gain some hope & pride for his own future, he and his friends tackle putting together their first Pride parade in Barton Springs. there's some challenges in the way, however, and it's in the conservative views that some of the adults have that go against any Pride, as well as a mayor who rather than actually tackling issues that can help progress the village, goes out of their way to bury them, silencing the voices of people who are trying to stand up for marginalized voices and other communtiies.
one of the important things about this book was that even with the difficulties that came with trying to throw this celebration for LGBTQ+ youth, the bigoted voices were never given a spotlight to shine and we got to see characters who expressed hope & excitement for this event and who genuinely wanted to help jake. i loved that of these characters, jake's parents really made me the most happy in the way they supported their kid because not every child gets to have that, and so the way that they pour so much love for him hit hard in its own way. it was all in the small & innocuous (but still significant!) details like when jake's mom would give him McDonalds because it was turning out to be his fast food favorite (probably next to Taco Bell?) and also when his dad would sit down and listen to jake about his games, specifically this one virtual game he plays called Songbird Hollow.
that detail was really special to me because this virtual game to jake was like a mirror of Barton Springs, except on this other side the community was full of harmony and was a place where jake's virtual character could be accepted as he goes on these farming quests and builds a life with his avatar boyfriend who eventually turns to his husband. these forums that are connected to the game link jake to a whole group of real people who are loud & positive about his queer identity and so he gets to have that nice atmosphere that is missing from his real life. i think the use of this game in the story was so genius of the author because it really did play as a metaphor for jake's actual hometown, and while at first, it did seem like this picturesque landscape of whimsy & adventure, as the story goes on, we see how there's a difference between playing farmer and marrying a guy obsessed with his chickens vs. living your actual life, where the village you live tries to emulate that same picture-perfect utopia, but is really only shushing the real life people who have real problems and who are way more complex than a virtual game.
in reality, things aren't as harmonous as they might seem on screen because there's always different challenges to face and different people to have to confront because not everyone shares the same ideals/views. it was really hard to see jake have to reckon with some of those people, and to have to feel as if the only chance he could have in belonging anywhere be if he moves to some big city where being queer is something to be celebrated, not hidden like some dirty secret in a small town. i like that rather than facing down that road, the author expressed how there's many queer folks like jake who don't want to leave their hometown; who find a lot of pride at being one of the many residents who are so vibrant as a community when it comes to their sports games and their many town festivals. to have a festival jake wanted to throw for himself and all the other queer people of the village be challenged against because it's seen as some kind of disturbance in the fabric of that community was such a huge let-down, and it only went to show that in all that "small-town pride", some of those residents can only feel proud of so much before gods forbid anyone wants to express themselves to the fullest.
there's still so much hope, though!! and it's all in the characters. like i mentioned jake's parents from before, there was also jake's friend jenna, who is such a sweetheart that gets her own small arc in the story as we see her explore her different interests and make her own breakthroughs. i loved how much of a go-getter jenna was and how enthusiastic she was in trying to find ways to help jake in making this Pride festival a reality. her rivalry with this other character, brett, who becomes another friend of jake's, was very juvenile, as expected in middle-grade fiction, but i liked the way that the author developed this evolving group of friends as we see not just jenna & brett there to support jake, but they all support each other, too. brett's own journey with his mom being the mayor and his troubles at school was just as emotional as the other characters, and i was really happy to see how over the course of the story, we really got to see these kids talk to each other and try to navigate these challenges. one factor that's very common in all of the author's works thus far is not just in the queer representation but also mental health, where in this story, we got to see brett explore his own anxiety. it was just such a comfort knowing that struggles like his aren't being ignored simply because it's written through the eyes of children, because kids do experience hard stuff like that and it brings a lot of hope to these young readers seeing characters who get help and who are given a voice to help make them grow.
brett's mom isn't a villain by any means, she's only one of the many characters in this book who are very complex because even as adults, there's still so much for them to learn and truths to reckon with. her involvement as the mayor and on the town council was a little difficult to read about, to be honest, because seeing how much control she had bordered on stifling and it made it hard to see how any change could be made if there's so much corruption at the top. thankfully, the residents of Barton Springs, both young and old, show what a real community is like and in this story, we get to see how all of them try to band together and show what pride really means for all of them, and that includes kids like jake.
i always say i want to read more middle grade and i always fall short because there's just so many adult books nowadays that hold my attention, but reading this story here just solidified my wish to get to read more of these books about youth because there's a different tone that can't be replicated with adult and even ya fiction. there were moments where i genuinely laughed and smiled because of jake's perspective and the funny way he regarded certain things that only a kid could, so it was just all together a really nice experience. i'm thrilled to finally have gotten to read this book and i'm very hopeful in this village's characters and the future for their small town. i can't wait to read more from this author, i know it'll be such a delight so here's to the new year!!
Content Warnings
Minor: Homophobia