The Best at It
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Average rating4.3
From award-winning actor Maulik Pancholy comes a hilarious and heartfelt middle grade debut about a gay Indian American boy coming into his own. One of Time Out's "LGBTQ+ books for kids to read during Pride Month," this is perfect for fans of Tim Federle's Nate series. A Stonewall Honor Book Rahul Kapoor is heading into seventh grade in a small town in Indiana. The start of middle school is making him feel increasingly anxious, so his favorite person in the whole world, his grandfather, Bhai, gives him some well-meaning advice: Find one thing you're really good at and become the BEST at it. Those four little words sear themselves into Rahul's brain. While he's not quite sure what that special thing is, he is convinced that once he finds it, bullies like Brent Mason will stop torturing him at school. And he won't be worried about staring too long at his classmate Justin Emery. With his best friend, Chelsea, by his side, Rahul is ready to crush this challenge.... But what if he discovers he isn't the best at anything? Funny, charming, and incredibly touching, this is a story about friendship, family, and the courage it takes to live your truth. --Kacen Callender, Stonewall Award-winning author of Hurricane Child
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last year my work friend Anna and I both went to the same library conference but I got sick halfway through the morning and had to leave early, and the next day we had this conversation
me: what'd I miss?
Anna: Well, Jonathan from 30 Rock was there
me: WHAT
Anna: Yeah I guess he wrote a middle grade book and I was like OMG it's Jonathan from 30 Rock but nobody else cared
me: I WOULD HAVE CARED
Anna: I KNOW
Anyway, this is Jonathan from 30 Rock's book! It's funny and I think will be a good window/mirror situation for a lot of kids–the main character Rahul is one of few Indian-American kids in his small town and increasingly pretty sure he's gay. Anyway, it's overall a fun school story that has elements I think a lot of kids will relate to. I do have a few reservations about the ending:
Not STOKED about the strong implication that Brent the bully was only bullying Rahul for being gay because Brent was also gay?? I know that's a sort of common trope for school bullying stories in general but the idea that homophobes are all secretly gay is icky and more and more being called out?Also the way the narrative slowly built up Rahul's anxiety and (not-quite-diagnosed) OCD was interesting...but then it felt way too quickly resolved? Still, nice to see it addressed with therapy etc but maybe could have used like...one more chapter.)
