Concerning & Potentially Concerning Content

When reading this section, please keep in mind that the main characters are only 12 years old. Major Concerns: The main character, a young girl, describes herself as queer. Much of the book centers around this. As the book evolves, young readers are taken through a drawn-out budding romance as she meets another young girl. It is hard to properly describe just how incredibly emotionally charged this is and how much it would impact a young child who read it. We read of the excitement of moments where the two let their legs touch when sitting next to each other. At one point she mentions dreaming of running away to be with her. This culminates with a kiss where we read, “the moment her lips touch against mine my body feels like it will explode” (again, only 12). To make all this worse from a Christian perspective, young readers will be left with a very out-of-whack view of just how prevalent gay and gender confusion is. Al joins a random group of children in a support group for her condition. Eventually it turns out nearly this whole group is gay, bi and/or uses non-biblical gender pronouns. Then Al finds out her mom and female best friend are now dating (both had previously been married to men). Then Al’s best friend, a boy, surprises her by coming out as gay. A girl from drama is said to have two dads (which is called ‘cool’). The person leading the play is bi. This huge percentage of the characters we meet in the book will leave a very unhealthy message with young readers. Al has a secret second TikTok account. She hides and uses this throughout the book. This is never shown as wrong or repented of. Even beyond just the immorality of the secret account she discusses watching for hours. Tying into the initial major concern above, we are told several times her feed is full of girls who like girls (the word queer is used many times throughout, along with lesbian). For example, we are told there is a “cool queer couple” she envies. We are also told it is full of girls kissing. At one point Al comments that she hates when people say you are on the phone too much, she says “I’m not, it’s just where my life is”. While it does eventually ‘resolve’ to an extent at the end of the book, Al has a very negative, unhealthy relationship with her mother. She lies to her, gets extremely frustrated with her attempts to help her with her disease, complains constantly about her. At one point we are told her best friend is the one she goes to in order to avoid her mom. At one point when the doctor suggests a support group we are told Al is 1000 times less likely to do it because her mom agrees with the suggestion. She takes action “out of spite”. She rolls her eyes multiple times, answers rudely, thinks the worst, is critical. Her mom is held up as the villain for the majority of the book, despite the fact that the only thing she seems to be doing is trying to help her manage her disease. To make this worse we read that there is an unspoken rule that mom won’t enter her room and doesn’t ever check her phone. At one point she leaves the house without telling her where she is going and is gone for hours. Kids at the support group are invited to share their pronouns. One child describes themselves as “they/she”. The book refers to them as “they” (instead of he or she) throughout. Another boy calls himself “aromantic”. Another says he thinks boys are cute, is not sure if he is totally a boy, but he/him pronouns are still cool (response back is “that is so cool!”). A statement is made that “no one would be able to tell if I was a girl or a boy or maybe something else”. At one point the unsupervised group of boys and girls suggest watching a movie they describe as “inappropriate”, to which everyone replies that they won’t tell and they all watch it. Two main characters, a boy and girl, are left alone unsupervised often, including sleepovers. At one point they sneak into a ‘gender neutral’ bathroom. When they both come out to each other, they immediately invite their corresponding gay boyfriend/girlfriend over with the mom and her new girlfriend out of the house. The doctor is meeting with Al one-on-one. She asks about bringing her mom in. Al asks if they have to which the author has the doctor utter the extremely alarming statement “until you are 18 unfortunately” because of “that pesky law” (remember Al is 12)! Another authority figure, the counselor, asks about a parent's divorce, “Do you think they might be better” now… “Has their relationship seemed better now that they live in separate places?” to which there is a reply that “I know they’re better (now)”. The book ends with a “queer youth line” that can be contacted via text. Other Concerns: Mom has told Al she is the product of a one night stand. Some will find the constant and unrelenting discussion of ‘poop’, having accidents and related topics disturbing. At one point a rectal exam is described in detail. There is also a real feeling of obsession over this disease. She thinks and talks about it constantly. Al describes herself as ‘not religious’ and at one point she mentions the afterlife, followed by the comment “if there is one”. As a part of the medical issues Al’s underwear are described. She makes a wish on a star. OMG is used a lot as well as “oh my god”. Also, suck and holy crap appear. High School Musical the Musical the Series is mentioned a couple times. The two friends mention hating their gym teacher.