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Eventually, I gave up on sleep and read all of Totally Joe, before shot time. This was pretty cool, actually. It's by the prolific and well respected James Howe and is about a gay seventh grader. As it's about seventh grade, it's really aimed at 5th and 6th graders, and there's hardly anything available LGBTQ wise in that age group. It's not ground breaking as plots go, dealing with bullying and a relationship between a mostly out effeminate boy and a closeted jock, but for a lot of the kids reading this, this is their first book with anyone remotely like them in it. As someone who watched a whole lot of gender expression policing of the '90's within the community, it was kind of refreshing to see an apologetically expression non-conforming main character in a children's book. It was cool to see him catching himself policing someone else's gender expression and opting not to bully someone else the way he's been bullied. That was some really nice modeling there. I also rather like the delicate handling of issues around risk, family support, and closeting. Joe has a loving, supportive family, and friends who watch his back; Colin does not. Out is so much clearly better, but it's also even possible because Joe is relatively safe. Maybe it wouldn't be the end of the world for Colin, but there's a chance his parents would react like Kevin's would, and it's not like 7th graders have an option to to leave if their parents reject or abuse them. Joe's serious desire to be open, and the way he feels at the end, suggest that when he's ready to date again, he'll pick someone else who's ready to be out to. That's also a pretty good message to hand kids looking ahead to the messy dating scape of in and out that's going to face them for the next decade or two of their lives. Colin's situation deserves compassion, but he's not a good relationship risk for someone like Joe who's moving on to the next stage. The above likely doesn't convey how charming the narrative voice is. I liked that kid. Obviously, it's not well-written on an adult reading level or high art, but it's very well written at the 5-6th grade level, amusing and healthy for kids without being preachy. I'd recommend this without reservation to upper elementary or younger middle school kids dealing with bullying and/or issues around gender expression and being LGB in middle school. Though there are no openly trans characters, I think it would be reassuring to a transgendered child as well because of the way it handled the two characters with non-traditional gender expression. It also does a cool job of showing different ways to be an ally. It manages to be helpful and fun and uplifting all at once, which takes a much defter narrative touch than most people imagine. It also captures some of the ways different and not popular can end up being good in the long run.
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