A delightful story about a gender creative girl finding how to express herself.
Nicki’s Aunt Carmela, “the coolest aunt,” is getting married to Big Dave. Nicki is excited, especially since Aunt Carmela has asked her to be the Flower Girl for their wedding. She learns that a flower girl spreads petals before the wedding as a sign of love, and Nicki is “all in for love and pretty petals.” When Aunt Carmela and her mother try to help her find a dress for the wedding, however, Nicki isn’t happy. She tells them she doesn’t want to be a flower girl, and we see her reflecting on this as she lies despondently on her bed.
Eventually, she explains to her dad that “I’m not really a dress kind of girl” and her dad agrees that’s not who she’s been. He takes her shopping, where they find the perfect suit (complete with bow tie) that makes her feel gorgeous.
The wedding is perfect and Aunt Carmela confirms that she is “the best Flower Girl ever.”
I love the simplicity of the text and the restraint that author Amy Bloom shows in not overexplaining everything. Jameela Wahlgren draws wonderfully warm characters whose expressions tell as much as the words.
Additionally, unlike the earlier Annie’s Plaid Shirt, also about a girl not wanting to wear a dress to a family wedding, Nicki’s parents are not worried about what others will think. Her mom and aunt are a little clueless at first, but supportive once they see how happy Nicki is being herself—and her dad seems to get her even sooner. Different readers may find one story or the other resonates more with their own experiences, of course.
Nicki, her parents, and Aunt Carmela read as White; Big Dave as Black. In one wedding scene, we also see a possible queer couple, one member of whom has pink hair, hairy legs, and a dress.
