Kens

July 1, 2018
A popularity contest turns deadly in this gay mélange of Mean Girls and Heathers.Tommy Rawlins lives in a material world at his Willows, Wisconsin, high school. The student body--Tommy included--is obsessed with an A-list clique known as the Kens. With Botox in their faces and glitter in their veins, the Baphomet-worshipping Kens are 1990s Earring Magic Ken dolls made flesh. And they're all gay--well, everyone except Ken Carson, who is still in the closet about being straight. The queen bee of the Kens elects Tommy--one of the school's resident misfits--to be the newest member. At first, Tommy feels #blessed. But when it turns out that the Kens' New Edition isn't quite the model they were hoping for, the foursome's kiki turns into an all-out social war. Canadian author Reid's (When Everything Feels Like the Movies, 2014) sophomore effort is biting social commentary. Though some especially cringeworthy omniscient narration exposes the Kens' privilege around race and other topics, the results are often insensitive and in poor taste (e.g., when a drag queen named Sandy Hooker performs, "the crowd screams like they're in a school shooting.") Still, the novel's critique of societal obsessions with media and self-image, combined with its brilliant takedown of queer culture's "alpha gays," makes it a worthwhile read.Reid reads consumer culture to filth and the result is (mostly) lit. (glossary) (Fiction. 13-adult)

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September 1, 2018
Grades 10-1 The Kens rule the school, their toned bodies and sculpted faces making them the envy of everyone around them. They are bitchy and rude, glamorous and terrifying. But one of the problems with being as extra as the Kens is that it's easy to get bored. When Ken Hilton decides they need to make over one of the other students in their own image, Tommy Rawlins begins to wonder if he has a chance of being chosen. And then suddenly he is. But he can't quite figure out if his dreams have come true or if all hell is about to break loose, especially after he meets new student Blaine. A self-proclaimed provocateur, Reid (When Everything Feels like the Movies, 2001) is not one to shy away from humor or observations that cross lines of acceptability; however, in this particular narrative, flippant references to school shootings and police brutality may go too far for some readers. Billed as gay Heathers meets Mean Girls, this intriguing sophomore novel and critical satire will certainly provoke discussion among readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)