The Beautiful Something Else by Ash Van Otterloo and Jude Saves the World by Ronnie Riley [MG Reviews]

I previously read Van Otterloo’s debut Cattywampus but have yet to pick up their sophomore novel A Touch of Ruckus. Both of those stories have a good dose of magic about them. This one is not magical (well, there’s a touch of it in the lightest gentlest mostly metaphorical sense) but I enjoyed it even more than Cattywampus.

Give me all the “kid discovers their queer identity” middle grade!

My fascination is more like seeing a color I never knew existed. They’re graceful and strong, retty and handsome, this and that – and I kind of want to cry but in a good way? Like I’m relieved, but I can’t understand why.

The Beautiful Something Else, pg 107 (after Sparrow meets November but hasn’t yet learnt about nonbinary identities)

Why can’t we all be adopted into a welcoming found queer family!! I know it’s going to be wishful thinking for a lot of queer kids, but that’s why I’m grateful that we have middle grade stories like this nowadays. If kids can’t have that kind of family IRL, perhaps finding it within a book can be enough to make at least a small difference.

Shout out to the (unlabelled) aro/ace rep on pg 84, from this dialogue with Sparrow’s new friend Sunny: I can’t take this much scrutiny, so I turn the tables. “So, what do you do when you like someone?” Sully goes shy. “I don’t. Like someone. I don’t like people in that way.” I lower my voice. “Not… girls or boys?” “Nope.” [Sparrow is a little embarassed because they assumed ‘[b]ecause he had painted nails, maybe I guessed Sully likes guys or something?’] “Don’t break your brain, Sparrow,” Sully says, giggling. “It’s okay to not know everything.” (oops I lost the page number for this one. I think it might have been 84.)

There are many “ahh you poor sweet baby 🥺” moments. IMO the story’s not quite as sad as Too Bright to See (Sparrow isn’t as depressed and isolated as Bug) but there are some similar feels. There’s a striking subplot regarding Sparrow’s Mom and addiction, as well Mom’s past growing up in an abusive household. Mom also adamantly opposes gender nonconforming behaviours, which hasn’t made things easy for Sparrow.

[After Aunt Mags offers to hug or answer questions] But admitting I was rattled by Mom’s call feels like treachery. One hug, and everything I’m feeling would pour out like water. I imagine Mom, sitting on the living room couch and hearing me say things like “My mom hs a real problem, and it scares me” or “What if she doesn’t get better, Mags?” Something important between the two of us would shatter.

The Beautiful Something Else, pg 115

And I’m heartbroken that I’ll have to give this up when Mom gets out again. Because I’ll totally have to stop wearing this new stuff. The boyishness of these outfits is a bridge further than her anxiety can tolerate, and I know that. But it’s worth it, right?

The Beautiful Something Else, pg 160

Lastly, I cringed repeatedly at Sparrow’s school troubles and everything that goes wrong with their gardening project. But I guess that’s just how it is sometimes!! Live and learn…

💭 The Bottom Line: An emotional story with an ultimately hopeful arc, The Beautiful Something Else explores some painful topics with a caring touch.

Something about Jude Saves the World felt extremely Slice of Life™️ to me. This is not a bad thing! I think it’s because the story focuses in specifically on Jude and their two friends, Dallas and Stevie. Jude experiences relatively ordinary every day sort of stuff. Whereas The Beautiful Something Else feels a little more magical because Sparrow essentially gets adopted into an artistic queer community, Jude is just living a middle schooler’s life with their mom. Classic middle grade elements include kid being ostracized from their friend group, newly bffs experiencing a big fight, bff whose parents are always fighting, and kid creates club where none existed before.

Now, Jude is a darling. They want to save the world – or at least, the people in their world, in the small yet enormous ways that only a middle school aged can. Jude (and Dallas, tbf) immediately invite Stevie to be their friend when they see Stevie’s friends turn against her. Jude tries to respect their mother’s wishes not to rock the boat with their grandparents, which Jude manages to an extent – until they can’t tolerate their Grandpa’s attitude any longer. Jude does their best to support Dallas in the way he needs most. Jude doesn’t hesitate to push back when they see injustice.

Grandpa’s turn around felt abrupt but I appreciated how the grandparents acknowledge what their relationship looks like to Jude. Jude only sees them once a week at dinner – Jude doesn’t know their history or what how the rest of their day is shaped. Grandpa apparently coming around because of Netflix is a bit extreme but there wasn’t actually anything that confirmed the grandparents were homo/transphobic so it’s plausible, especially when you factor in anything Jude doesn’t see.

It was very sweet how Jude cited Demi Lovato’s coming out as the moment that helped them realize their own identity. 🥹 Representation mattters!!!

Some of the language the kids use feels quite stitled. As in, older and more formal than how a middle schooler would actually talk. There are moments that feel so carefully written in order to represent a perfect phrase rather than to represent how a kid talks.

The last thing I’ll note in this hodgepodge review is that Jude sets up the community safe space at the public library! There was an entire page about the Toronto Public Library’s meeting room debacle, including a line from the librarian about how she was in library school at the time that happened. I too was in library school at that time, so that page was a little too real for me. I had to take a break from reading after that page lol.

JUST KIDDING I remembered something else! I think this book included some teasers for Riley’s next book, Asking for a Friend? There’s a TV show that a couple of the characters discuss and I thought “Why does that plot seem familiar??” When I looked it up further, I found Asking for a Friend. So that’s a fun easter egg.

💭 The Bottom Line: A solid story incorporating many tropes of middle grade school stories, Jude Saves the World is recommended reading for those looking for story focused on friendship among queer kids.

Do you have any other MG books about nonbinary kids to recommend?
What kind of clubs did you join or start as kid?
(I didn’t join any clubs myself, for the record.)