Fourth-grader Riley is a kid who loves lots of things: their parents, cousins, friends, all kinds of animals, making cool stuff (as well as messes), and being nonbinary. In this first volume of the early chapter book series by Jay Albee (a pen name for Jen Breach and J. Anthony), Riley is excited about costume day at school, although they’re not quite sure what their costume will be. Something with a tutu? Or an astronaut? The other students aren’t sure what to dress up as, either. After a creative exercise from the school librarian, Mx. Aude, Riley puts their imagination to work to help the others come up with ideas, eventually realizing that this works best when they first listen carefully to what the others want.
As for their own costume, Riley says, “I’m going to be a dragon. Maybe the one from Prince and Knight,” a nice reference to the 2018 queer fairy tale by Daniel Haack. They also encourage their friend Lea to follow her desire to dress as a knight, despite another girl questioning whether girls can be knights.
A boy named Georgie wants to dress up as Melissa, the protagonist of Alex Gino’s novel Melissa, Georgie’s favorite book. Melissa is trans, but that never comes up in Riley Reynolds; we also don’t know if Georgie is trans or cis. I like that approach here, implying that the character could resonate with any young reader for any reason. (Alternatively, one could take it as an indication that Georgie is trans, which would be fine, too.) Georgie’s concern in the story is that Melissa just wears “regular clothes,” offering no opportunity for costume-day flair. Riley comes to the rescue with a solution taken from Melissa’s story (showing that they have also read it). We also learn that Georgie and his mom read Melissa together, a subtle way, I think, of modeling parental support for LGBTQ-inclusive books, especially the much-challenged Melissa.
Riley then organizes a time for themselves, Lea, and their friend Cricket to work on their costumes, where they all assist each other. The last chapter takes us to costume day itself and the characters’ final, fantastical costumes.
My one concern is in giving the name “Georgie” to the character who likes Melissa. Melissa was originally titled George, before being changed by author Alex Gino, since George was the character’s deadname. It seems reasonable to assume that “Georgie” was inspired by “George” from Gino’s book. Using the name “Georgie” for a Melissa-loving character isn’t deadnaming, exactly, but I wonder if some will feel it is uncomfortably close. If Georgie is intended to be trans himself, however (a point that isn’t entirely clear), the authors may have meant the name as an homage to the older story, but with the usage flipped to honor Georgie’s identity as a trans boy. Riley Reynolds’ creator Jen Breach is also nonbinary, though (I do not know J. Anthony’s gender identity), and I would like to think they understand the harm of deadnaming. Breach and Anthony are clearly big fans of Melissa, and obviously intend the references to it in a positive way, so I don’t want to be too harsh here. As a cisgender reviewer, too, I recognize my own limitations in assessing all this; I offer the information in hopes that other readers will make their own evaluations.
Overall, however, this is a cheerful, slice-of-life book with gentle lessons about friendship, helping, and cooperation, and importantly, a nonbinary child being unconditionally accepted by family and friends.
Backmatter and More
As with every book in the series, this one starts with two graphic-format pages titled “I’m Riley,” in which Riley introduces themselves, and two pages in which “Mx. Aude Teaches Helpful Terms,” giving definitions related to gender and queer identities. The latter might have worked better as backmatter, rather than slowing down the story with a pedagogical interruption (especially for those who have read other volumes in the series, with identical information), but this is good information to have nonetheless. Other than on those pages, however, gender identity is never mentioned, and Riley’s nonbinary identity is completely incidental to the story.
Actual backmatter includes discussion questions and writing prompts, but unfortunately no bibliography of the other children’s books mentioned throughout the story, which might have been helpful for those not already familiar with them.
Although this is a chapter book, not a picture book, comic-style illustrations at the chapter ends reflect the action of the story. Riley is biracial, with a Mexican mom and a White dad; Cricket reads as White, and Lea as Black.
