Eleven-year-old Rick Ramsey has generally gone along with everybody, just not making waves, even though he is increasingly uncomfortable with his father's jokes about girls, and his best friend's explicit talk about sex; but now in middle school he discovers the Rainbow Spectrum club, where kids of many genders and identities can express themselves--and maybe among them he can find new friends and discover his own identity, which may just be to opt out of sex altogether. - (Baker & Taylor)
From the award-winning author of Melissa, the story of a boy named Rick who needs to explore his own identity apart from his jerk of a best friend.
Rick's never questioned much. He's gone along with his best friend, Jeff, even when Jeff's acted like a bully and a jerk. He's let his father joke with him about which hot girls he might want to date even though that kind of talk always makes him uncomfortable. And he hasn't given his own identity much thought, because everyone else around him seemed to have figured it out.
But now Rick's gotten to middle school, and new doors are opening. One of them leads to the school's Rainbow Spectrum club, where kids of many genders and identities congregate, including Melissa, the girl who sits in front of Rick in class and seems to have her life together. Rick wants his own life to be that . . . understood. Even if it means breaking some old friendships and making some new ones.
As they did in their groundbreaking novel Melissa, in Rick, award-winning author Alex Gino explores what it means to search for your own place in the world . . . and all the steps you and the people around you need to take in order to get where you need to be.
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Scholastic)
From the award-winning author of George, the story of a boy named Rick who needs to explore his own identity apart from his jerk of a best friend. - (Scholastic)
Alex Gino loves glitter, ice cream, gardening, awe-ful puns, and stories that reflect the diversity and complexity of being alive. Their first novel, Melissa, was a winner of the Children’s Stonewall Award, the Lambda Literary Award, and the Children’s Choice Book Award. For more about Alex, please visit them at alexgino.com.
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Scholastic)
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Eleven-year-old sixth-grader Rick's best friend ever is Jeff, who, let's face it, is a bit of a jerk. Aside from being a troublemaker, Jeff objectifies girls, one of them being a new girl, Melissa. At least Rick thinks she's new, until he realizes that he has known her since she was the protagonist of Gino's first novel, George (2015). "I'm a girl," she tells Rick, "a transgender girl." Rick realizes he isn't sure what he is, though. Is he gay? He doesn't like boys that way, but then, he doesn't like girls that way either. Thinking it might help him decide, he attends a meeting of the Rainbow Spectrum, a club for LGBTQIAP+ rights. He keeps this a secret from Jeff, of course. Meanwhile, Rick begins spending time with his grandfather, who, it turns out, has a secret of his own. Grandpa Ray tells him that Jeff is, indeed, a jerk, and then Jeff does something that proves it. Will that end his friendship with Rick? And what is Grandpa Ray's secret? Gino handles the answers deftly and manages their material about children's identities beautifully. Like George (2015), this is an important, innovative, well-plotted book that invites a large readership. Grades 3-6. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.