A boy who feels like an outsider at school gets some wise advice from his gay uncle in this rhyming tale.
Henry Higgleston, a bespectacled kid in a dinosaur hoodie, knows the other kids at school think he’s strange. He’d like to change his clothes, hair, and voice.
His “most fabulous” guncle then comes to visit (along with his pup Jimmy Chew), and says he’s heard school has been tough. He takes Henry out for waffles and a chat, and says he understands. Henry expresses his sadness and anger and his uncle listens, then helps him calm down. They spend the day together, singing showtunes and cheering their favorite football team. The next day they go to church, where the guncle prays “devoutly”—a nice bit of representation for LGBTQ people of faith. Afterwards, two women stare at the guncle’s bright outfit, but “he doesn’t care.”
Before he goes home, the guncle has some words of advice, and says that he knows what’s it’s like to be teased for “things you can’t change.” He tells Henry that he’s special, and should keep being himself, explaining, “For when children see special,/They misunderstand./But one day they’ll change,/I know this firsthand.” I like that the onus is on the other children to change, not Henry (though the stares of the women at church casts doubt on the guncle’s optimism about people’s willingness to improve).
Henry has taken the lesson to heart, and tells readers that his guncle has shown him, “You can be who God made you/Whatever you are.” Love is what matters, he continues, and how much you’re giving to friends after you first love yourself. We see him having lunch with two other children, one who is Black and one who uses a wheelchair and could be read as Asian. While nothing is said in the text, one might assume that they, too, have been teased or harassed because of their marginalized identities, but have found friendship with each other.
His sudden surge of insights about loving both oneself and others seems to exceed even his guncle’s advice, but the intent and the message are sweet enough that most readers should be able to overlook that cognitive leap. When Henry is unsure of himself in the future, he concludes, he’ll think of his guncle “And decide to be ME!”
Is Henry himself gay? We don’t know, and it doesn’t really matter. The point is that the guncle’s experience as a gay person has enabled him to offer wisdom to his nephew, regardless of the nephew’s identity. Henry’s parents fully support his time with his guncle and smile encouragingly at the two of them as they have their farewell talk. Sometimes raising a child takes the proverbial village, and they’ve clearly called in the guncle for assistance. That’s a good lesson for adult readers—making this a recommended story for the whole family. Families of faith in particular will appreciate the small mentions of prayer and God (though those obviously won’t resonate for everyone).
Henry and his family are White.
