The Black Flamingo

by Dean Atta

[readingwithwrin]

We get to see him grow up in a single-parent home in England and we see his mom try to protect him from the outside world when he is younger and still do that as time goes on all while accepting him for who he is. I also really loved the little bit of the relationship we saw with his sister. Siblings are such an important part and I loved how she was involved a normal amount for being a younger sister, and how accepting she was of everything.
My favorite part though hands down was his friendship with his best friend, we got to see them both grow up together and all the struggles that come with growing up in today's day and age.

Overall I liked this book and enjoyed it. Michael is comfortable with who he is and isn't afraid to show it to a certain extent. Obviously he's more cautious at times depending on who he is around as the vast majority of people are. Michael was that person that while he knew what he wanted to be he still was learning what being LGBT was to him and others around him, and finding a place he truly could fit in and find himself and grow as a person. That's what this book is. I loved the imagery that Atta was able to create and how he was able to express all the different emotions through verse. I loved getting to see and learn about Drag through Michael and how we were both learning about it at the same time and what it meant to do drag and how it is so different for each person who does it.
I learned a lot from this book and I know it's one that when I do re-read it I'm going to discover things I missed the first time.


Dean Atta's collaboration with the Tate London Schools here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UdejBoQ1v8

An interview with Dean Atta by The Royal Bookshelf here.
https://theroyalbookshelf.wordpress.com/2020/06/08/lgbtqmonth-author-interview-dean-atta/