Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia
2020; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 74; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2020.0594
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Gender, Feminism, and Media
ResumoReviewed by: Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia Kiri Palm Mejia, Tehlor Kay Miss Meteor; by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore. HarperTeen, 2020 [400p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780062869913 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780062869937 $8.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 7-10 Meteor, NM is known for two things: the space rock that crashed nearby and gave the town its name, and the Meteor Regional Pageant and Talent Competition Showcase, more often referred to as the Miss Meteor Pageant. Chicky Quintanilla thinks of the pageant as skinny blonde white girls stealing the crown from all three of her gorgeous older sisters and as a time where her punk, butch Latina aesthetic is scrutinized even more than usual. For Lita Perez, winning Miss Meteor was fantasy she used to play with her former friend Chicky, and as the Fiftieth Annual competition looms and Lita finds that her body is transforming into stardust, she decides there's nothing to lose by entering the contest. Alternating narration allows for interweaving perspectives on Chicky and Lita's lost friendship, the stresses both girls are experiencing outside of the norms of high school and beauty pageants, and even the budding romances they're unknowingly building with two of the only nice guys in town. As Latina girls in a white small town, they are already othered, but they fear discovery of their more complicated individualities: Lita as an otherworldly star-child who arrived on Earth with the famous meteor, and Chicky as a closeted pansexual in an aggressively heteronormative town. This complex tale packs a lot into its space, and while the novel is sure to resonate with any kid who feels like an outcast and any reader who loved Murphy's Dumplin' (BCCB 12/15), it's especially salient for those in the Latinx, queer, and economically disadvantaged communities. Copyright © 2020 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
Referência(s)