Jill Murray, February 2010.   Here’s a protagonist with her head on straight.  She’s part of a breakdance crew, and comfortable with her place in it - she’s not the star, not the best gymnast, just a solid performer and hard worker.  When she’s asked to audition for new girl group EnChantay, then, she’s comfortable with not really being a singer.  She’s old enough that she’s ready to leave her happy, supportive family for most of each week, and young enough to be okay living in a dorm room rather than a hotel.  She knows she doesn’t like boys, but she’s not comfortable telling her best friend to stop trying to hook her up.  What she’s not ready for is falling in love with Angelique, EnChantay’s diva, who makes out with her after a party but then ignores her, preferring to focus on her own ambition.

Murray really nails the voice here, and the plot is anything but trite.  I want to read more by this author, and was delighted to learn this book is actually a sequel.  Recommended for all public libraries, all high school, and most middle - there is some drunkenness and, you know, the whole lesbian thing.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 28th, 2010 at 9:18 pm and is filed under 2010, Jill Murray, black, canadian, gay male, lesbian, queer protagonist, realistic, secondary queer character. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.