In this early chapter book, Jordan (who lives with his grandmother) isn’t looking forward to the first day at his new elementary school. He stuck out at his old school—for having long hair and a protruding belly—and just wants to be invisible here. He’s not going to tell anyone about the evening “showtimes” he and his grandmother have, singing and dancing together after dressing up in glamorous wigs and dresses from her closet.
Jordan is paired with Max, another loner in the class, for a school project. Max, however, revels in his individuality by speaking out and wearing loud shirts. Jordan is hesitant to work with him, knowing it threatens his own wish to blend in. Max, a self-declared “triple threat” as an actor, singer, and dancer, wants their school project to reflect his showy talents. Jordan goes along with this for a while, until Max’s unintentional pushiness causes Jordan to realize he needs to speak up. He finally does so, aided by the strength he finds in the dress-up items he loves.
This strength, along with Max’s artistic vision, lead to a dazzling performance for their school project. Not everyone is as thrilled by it as they had hoped, but Max helps Jordan realize that sometimes one shouldn’t care what other people think, especially when one has the support of a friend.
Although the character’s identities aren’t labeled, one could easily see both Jordan and Max identifying as queer later in their lives. This book thus gives us a rare thing in books for younger age groups—an image of more than one (possibly) queer child and a sense of the power of queer community.
Jordan and his grandmother are White; Max reads as a medium-skinned person of color.
