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 volume of the early chapter book series by Jay Albee (a pen name for Jen Breach and J. Anthony), Riley and friends Cricket and Lea are getting ready for their class play, Dogs, which the students wrote together. But the backdrop is smudged, one kid keeps goofing around, Lea can’t remember her line, and Cricket’s costume is falling off. Georgie, who has the lead role, isn’t having fun. Even with the support of their director, librarian Mx. Aude, can they bring things together for the big performance?
Spoiler: Yes. Along the way, Riley’s dad teaches them about the suspension of disbelief that theater can create, Riley helps their classmates with costumes and confidence, and the students all learn to work together.
Overall, 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
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. 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.
