The (Un)Popular Vote

April 15, 2021
National politics writ small and queer: Mark Adams wants to be out and proud as a pansexual trans guy. But his congressman father, a California Democrat who is eyeing the White House, sees his son as a liability and forces Mark to transfer to Utopia High in order to be stealth. Mark agrees to hide his trans history but still joins an unofficial club for queer students (shunning the Gay-Straight Alliance as straight-people ally cred). When "high-femme fag" sophomore Benji is targeted, politics-obsessed Mark, who is White, decides to run for student body president--against teenage stand-ins for Clinton and Trump--on a platform of systemic change. The slow-moving plot contains paragraphs about Leibniz, the Electoral College, a transmasculine response to feminist statements about toxic masculinity, and discussions of identity and privilege that some readers will find arduous to slog through. There are moments of strength, power, and deep emotion sprinkled throughout, but much patience is required to get there. Mark, his family, and other supporting characters feel like carefully crafted displays of intentions and ideals rather than fully developed and urgently vital human beings, though the similarly thoughtful approach to climactic moments is more successful. There are certainly some teenagers who will enjoy the heights of rarefied nerdery that this novel achieves, though, and a limited audience will find all of their dreams fulfilled. A challenging read but not without merit. (Fiction. 14-18)

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May 1, 2021

Gr 9 Up-In a California high school where the Gay/Straight Alliance consists of straight white students, a group of queer and non-cisgender friends find refuge in French Club. It doesn't matter that most of them don't take French. Being LGBTQIA+ in a heteronormative environment is not easy and they need each other. Mark is the transitioning son of a politician who would prefer to pretend that he does not exist, so Mark tries to stay out of the public eye. But when a peer is attacked for being gay and the school administration does nothing, Mark decides to run for class president, representing change. Every kid deserves a safe space, acceptance, and love. Mark is ready to start the movement, even if it exposes who he really is to the community. This could be a heavy read but humor and vivid imagery keep it moving. The relationships within Mark's friend group are heartwarming, inclusive, and intelligent. The plot is not neat and tidy but drips with realism. Mark is white and diversity in gender identity, sexuality, and religion is exemplified in the cast. VERDICT A recommended purchase for any library but especially those where books by Becky Albertalli and Benjamin Alire S�enz are popular.-Claire Covington, Broadway H.S., VA

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