Riley, the protagonist of this graphic novel, would rather draw than pay attention in her fifth-grade class. Outside of class, “Everyone’s squaded-up but me,” she says. No one quite gets her or her offbeat sense of humor, and she doesn’t vibe with the other girls’ talk of boy crushes. The one person she really likes, however, is her favorite comedian, Joy Powers. She therefore gets excited when her class is assigned a project to write letters to people they admire. She’s going to write to Joy Powers … except she’s worried her writing and drawing skills aren’t good enough.
The story moves between scenes in Riley’s life and her often elaborate imaginings as she navigates school, friendships, family, and the sometimes mixed messages they send. Riley is often silly, and the story is filled with humor, but underneath it there’s a kid just trying to figure herself out. In one scene, she looks in a mirror and thinks, “When other kids look at me, this is who they see. But there’s a different version of me in my head.”
Gradually, she develops friendships with one classmate, Cate, who offers to help with the letter, and with a new boy, Aaron, who has two dads. Riley seems fascinated by Aaron’s dads. Despite these blooming friendships, however, the masculine-presenting Riley (who calls herself “a dude-ish girl”) gets teased at school and called a “lesbo.” She can’t quite figure out why, though, since “Lesbians go with other girls … I don’t go with anyone!” The teasing sparks a question in her mind, however, and she begins to ponder whether she is gay—and sensibly asks Aaron how his dads knew they were. He doesn’t want to talk about it, however; he is going through his own coming out process about his family, and doesn’t want other kids to know he has two dads.
Things come to a head when the classmate who teased her, Whitney, is hosting a “girls’ night,” and who wants to make sure Riley isn’t a lesbian first, since, girls’ nights are for talking about crushes. “A gay girl would be like a boy at girls’ night,” Whitney opines.
Things go awry (I’ll avoid spoilers), but Riley and her friends persevere despite challenges to their friendships and close-mindedness from others. By the end, it’s clear that even if Riley is still figuring some things out, she’s found her squad.
Riley is a kid with boundless energy and imagination, even if that can sometimes come across as annoying. She’s a lovable goofball, however, and an entertaining protagonist—and the messages in the story, about discovering oneself and finding true friends, feel relatable and non-pedantic. A great read for other “dude-ish girls” or anyone else feeling like they don’t fit in.
Riley and her family are White; Aaron and one dad are Black, while the other dad and Cate are White.
