Baby Drag Queen

February 15, 2023
A determined Vancouver high school senior steps out of his comfort zone to help his mom. Seventeen-year-old transgender boy Ichiro hates that his mom refuses to quit her job even though her boss is sexually harassing her. Despite her insistence that he focus on school, Ichiro makes a plan to solve their money problems--he'll purchase a camper van to save on rent. Throwing himself into his job washing dishes at a cafe, Ichiro struggles in classes and misses hanging out with friends, especially cute new girl Lexie, who might lose interest if he doesn't make a move soon. Just when Ichiro's goal starts to feel impossible, he learns about a youth drag competition with a huge cash prize. As Ichiro pursues the contest, he grapples with stirring romantic feelings, sharing his identity with his friends, and a fraught relationship with his mother, who doesn't accept him as her son or recognize that he is trans (this last point may confuse readers given that she calls him Ichiro, traditionally a boy's name, throughout). Tanaka establishes concrete goals for Ichiro, but the story suffers from unbalanced pacing, highlighted by the title's emphasis on drag: Drag performance provides a means to an end for Ichiro, but he's in it for the money and doesn't start learning routines until over halfway through the book. Nevertheless, this accessible debut for reluctant readers offers an ethnically diverse cast of queer characters navigating identity and emerging adulthood. Ichiro and Lexie are of Chinese and Japanese descent. Dramatic, optimistic, and emotionally engaging. (Fiction. 13-18)

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February 1, 2023

Gr 9 Up-Transgender male teen Ichiro is living with his Japanese mom in Vancouver. Since Dad, a successful professional photographer, is now remarried and living in China, Mom is working constantly at restaurant jobs trying to make ends meet. Ichiro starts picking up shifts washing dishes as well, but his plan is to save enough to put a down payment on a camper van and move with Mom to Aunt Edna's land on Vancouver Island. Ichiro, already curious about feminine clothes and makeup but hiding it from his mom, decides to enter a drag contest to earn the cash he needs. With tutorials on YouTube and coaching from a drag crew he meets through working in the club's kitchen, Ichiro crushes a performance of Miley Cyrus's version of "Jolene" and comes in second, making enough prize money to move on with the camper project and look forward to going to university in Victoria, where Lexie, with whom he has been building a chaste romance, will also be going. Many characters express some blend of Asian identity, several of them also queer and/or bisexual. The book is written at a second to third grade reading level. VERDICT With contemporary themes, relatable characters, and plenty of high school drama, this title is recommended for high school libraries.

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