The second volume in this series is again told from the perspective of Max, a transgender boy, but focuses on the experiences of his friend Steven, who loves to tell stories and “be in the center of things.” Max helps Steven, who likes to wear dresses, find an outfit for the school talent show and prepare for his performance. Lukoff gently shows us the difference between the boys’ personalities—Steven is an outgoing performer; Max doesn’t like to sing or dance. Max does like to help his friends, though, so he offers to be Max’s assistant. “Steven likes that idea,” Max relates. “And he loves to tell me what to do.” Steven isn’t bossy, exactly, but he does like swaying people with his stories. Lukoff reminds readers, though, that even children with friends who love “to tell them what to do” still have their own agency—Max explains that in playing dress up, Steven sometimes asks him to put on a dress, but he (Max) says no, because “I used to wear dresses but now I don’t.” And Max’s reserved nature makes his later action even more meaningful, when an idea of his saves the performance for Steven. He’s finding his own way to have an impact in the world.
Max’s transgender identity isn’t mentioned explicitly in this second book. That feels appropriate here—not every story with an LGBTQ character needs to be “about” being LGBTQ. Still, a few scenes show Max responding to things, and people responding to Max, in ways that reflect his transgender identity (and people’s erroneous assumptions about it). Just because his gender identity isn’t the focus doesn’t mean it disappears entirely, and author Kyle Lukoff is skilled enough to find this balance.
Cheerful illustrations by Luciano Lozano again captured the range of the children’s emotions and show us these are fun characters that readers will enjoy spending time with. Max looks White; Steven appears to be Black, as does Teresa, although her skin is slightly lighter than Steven’s; she could be read as biracial. Other children and adults are of various skin tones and racial identities.
While the volume is produced in a picture book format with a large cover and full illustrations, it’s broken into (short) chapters, so it slides somewhat into early reader territory.
