'Callie loves theatre. And while she would totally try out for her middle school's production of Moon Over Mississippi, she can't really sing. Instead she's the set designer for the drama department stage crew, and this year she's determined to create a set worthy of Broadway on a middle-school budget. But how can she, when she doesn't know much about carpentry, ticket sales are down, and the crew members are having trouble working together? Not to mention the onstage AND offstage drama that occurs once the actors are chosen. And when two cute brothers enter the picture, things get even crazier!'
I recently won a copy of Drama in a Pride book giveaway, and it was one of the few books in the set that I'd not actually heard of before, even though it was first published almost a decade ago. Still, I like reading queer stories, and the artwork inside it was really nice, so I was happy to give it a go. But, it wasn't quite what I was expecting.
Drama is not a queer story. There are gay characters in the book, yes, but the story isn't really about that as a lot of other books that get labelled as LGBTQ+ in content so often are. This is a book about theatre, and about pursing your passions. Drama centres on Callie, a young student who has been obsessed with the theatre ever since she got taken to see Les Miserables as a young girl. She's set her sights not on being on stage, but in working behind the scenes, with a focus on set design.
As such, Callie has been a part of the school theatre team for years now, and is looking forward to the latest school production, Moon Over Mississippi, a fictional play set in the south during the Civil War. Callie wants to make this the best show they've ever put on, and invests a lot of time and effort into making the stage effects bigger and better than ever; complete with a working canon. When two new students, twins Jesse and Justin, show an interest in being involved in the show Callie soon forms a friendship with them. She also begins to realise that she has feelings for Jesse.
I was expecting queer identities to be at the centre of this story, and was surprised when, for the majority of the issue, Justin was the only visibly queer character, and that his gayness was only a minor, background thing that few knew about. Yes, it turns out that there are a few more gay and bisexual characters by the end of the story, and that their queer identities have an effect on Callie, but this is still very much a story of a cisgender, heterosexual girl and her time working on a school play.
After looking into the book I was surprised to learn that it was challenged by homophobic parents and schools over the last decade, considering there's virtually no gay content in this book. Drama has been called 'sexually explicit' (for one panel that features two boys kissing I guess, unless there a version with hardcore sex in it or something), and has been in the top ten banned books for several years in the US. All for a book where queer identities are hardly a thing. If I can speak frankly, it's absolutely fucking ridiculous.
Drama is not a gay story. It's a story where gay people exist. That's it. And for that it has been banned and branded as explicit. It honestly boggles the mind. how closed-minded and backwards some people are to believe a story where gay kids happen to just be there is considered the worst thing in the world.
The book itself is fine, it's a decent enough story about a group of kids putting on a school play and the trials and tribulations that happen over the course of it. So if you're looking for a book about that kind of topic this is one that I think you'll enjoy. It capture the love of theatre, the way theatre kids geek out and swoon over tiny set details, and how they'll watch the same shows again and again because they're musicals. And it revels in that niche kind of joy.
But if you're looking for a book about the queer experience, about discovering your sexuality or gender and coming to terms with that this is probably not going to do much for you. It's a stepping stone, it's a book that you give to a younger reader who probably doesn't even know what gay people are as a sneaky introduction. But I'd not say this is a queer book by any stretch.
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