Saturday, January 27, 2018

A Boy Named Queen by Sara Cassidy

Title: A Boy Named Queen
Author: Sara Cassidy
Format: Novel (middle grade)
Length: 77 pages
Publication Date: August 2016

The Story

In this very short novel, a grade 5 girl named Evelyn learns a lot from a boy named Queen, the new kid in her school. Queen is different from everyone else, and so becomes the target of school bullies, but he never lets the bullies get to him, always remaining positive and enthusiastically himself.

My Thoughts

I love this book's message of acceptance, both of oneself and of others. Queen is a great character; he's clearly different from his peers, and that makes it hard for him to make friends, but he knows who he is and isn't afraid to show it. Evelyn struggles with that at times, but ultimately learns a lot about friendship and being yourself from Queen.

The story is very short, perhaps disappointing very plot-focused readers, but personally I very much enjoyed this brief glimpse into Evelyn's life. The shortness of the book also means this could be a good choice for struggling readers; for more advanced readers it could be a one-day read.