photo courtesy of K. Reyes 5/2021
Bibliographic Information:
- Title: Felix Ever After
- Author: Kacen Callender
- ISBN: 978-0-06-282025-9 (hardcover)
- Publisher: Balzer + Bray an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
- Copyright Date: 2020
Genre [Format]:
Reading Level/Interest Level:
-
Realistic Fiction, LGBTQ+, Romance [hardcover book]
- subject tag: diversity, #OwnVoices, social issues
- Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award Honor, 2021
Reading Level/Interest Level:
- Grade 9 and up (Macgregor in School Library Journal, 2020)
Plot Summary:
Felix Love has always known he was transgender. In his life, his mother has abandoned him when he was ten while his father remained and supported him through his transition and surgery. Felix’s best friend, Ezra, is gay and in love with Felix but Felix is clueless. Instead he is obsessed with finding out the culprit who hacked his phone and purloined personal photos which were displayed without his permission in the gallery of St. Catherine, a highly selective and competitive summer art school they were attending. Felix is also determined to find out who has been harassing him online on Instagram. Felix decides that catfishing is his only way to figure out who did the mean gallery and who is harassing him on social media. But things get more complicated as he gets to really know the person on the other end of the bait and he’s nowhere near figuring out the transphobic culprit.
Felix Love has always known he was transgender. In his life, his mother has abandoned him when he was ten while his father remained and supported him through his transition and surgery. Felix’s best friend, Ezra, is gay and in love with Felix but Felix is clueless. Instead he is obsessed with finding out the culprit who hacked his phone and purloined personal photos which were displayed without his permission in the gallery of St. Catherine, a highly selective and competitive summer art school they were attending. Felix is also determined to find out who has been harassing him online on Instagram. Felix decides that catfishing is his only way to figure out who did the mean gallery and who is harassing him on social media. But things get more complicated as he gets to really know the person on the other end of the bait and he’s nowhere near figuring out the transphobic culprit.
Author Background:
Kacen Callender was born in St. Thomas in 1989, two days after Hurricane Hugo hit the U.S. Virgin Islands so all their life, they were nicknamed Hurricane Child, which became the title of the first book she published (Abbotts, 2018). Hurricane Child won the 2019 Lambda Literary Award and the Stonewall Book Award. Callender graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Japanese and Creative Writing and an MFA in Writing for Children from The New School. Kacen is trans and Felix Ever After is a book that they say speaks to their experience. Callender is transitioning and changed their name from Kheryn to Kacen a couple of years ago.
Kacen Callender was born in St. Thomas in 1989, two days after Hurricane Hugo hit the U.S. Virgin Islands so all their life, they were nicknamed Hurricane Child, which became the title of the first book she published (Abbotts, 2018). Hurricane Child won the 2019 Lambda Literary Award and the Stonewall Book Award. Callender graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Japanese and Creative Writing and an MFA in Writing for Children from The New School. Kacen is trans and Felix Ever After is a book that they say speaks to their experience. Callender is transitioning and changed their name from Kheryn to Kacen a couple of years ago.
Critical Evaluation for Book:
Felix Love is trying so hard to find love that he does not realize it’s right in front of him. Callender creates a character in Felix that is equal parts insufferable and lovable. He is tortured about how he truly feels about everything except his singular desire to get into Brown. Even though he does not regret his top surgery, he is not as comfortable with his male assignment and with himself. When he discovers a name for himself, demi-boy, many things become clear for him. This need to clarify his identity, the need to seek revenge, and the need to fill the gaping hole left by his absent mother all serve to amplify the loneliness Felix feels. It is hard enough to be a teenager in a competitive art program, add to that more layers--trans, queer, and black. Callender does not give answers or justifications for Felix’s behaviors but it is clear that Felix is able to survive because he has at least one parent who loves him unconditionally and friends who have his back. We readers get a glimpse of what it takes to navigate the stressful and intense teenage world with the added complexity of multiple layers of identities exacerbated by profound loss.
Felix Love is trying so hard to find love that he does not realize it’s right in front of him. Callender creates a character in Felix that is equal parts insufferable and lovable. He is tortured about how he truly feels about everything except his singular desire to get into Brown. Even though he does not regret his top surgery, he is not as comfortable with his male assignment and with himself. When he discovers a name for himself, demi-boy, many things become clear for him. This need to clarify his identity, the need to seek revenge, and the need to fill the gaping hole left by his absent mother all serve to amplify the loneliness Felix feels. It is hard enough to be a teenager in a competitive art program, add to that more layers--trans, queer, and black. Callender does not give answers or justifications for Felix’s behaviors but it is clear that Felix is able to survive because he has at least one parent who loves him unconditionally and friends who have his back. We readers get a glimpse of what it takes to navigate the stressful and intense teenage world with the added complexity of multiple layers of identities exacerbated by profound loss.
Creative Use for a Library Program:
In the past few years, our students have devoted an entire school day when they host a day of silence in support of the LGBTQ+ students on our campus. On that day, I want to be ready with multiple copies of this book plus all the other YA books that feature LGBTQ+ themes and characters so that students can borrow the books.
In the past few years, our students have devoted an entire school day when they host a day of silence in support of the LGBTQ+ students on our campus. On that day, I want to be ready with multiple copies of this book plus all the other YA books that feature LGBTQ+ themes and characters so that students can borrow the books.
Speed-Round Book Talk or Short Book Trailer:
Felix Love wants to find that one person who will love him for who he is but he’s so consumed with seeking vengeance against the transphobic person he thinks is the one harassing him that he doesn’t see all the love around him. Felix needs to figure out how to navigate this competitive art scene, find out who’s harassing him online, and find his happily ever after. It won’t be an easy ride. Read Felix Ever After and find out.
Felix Love wants to find that one person who will love him for who he is but he’s so consumed with seeking vengeance against the transphobic person he thinks is the one harassing him that he doesn’t see all the love around him. Felix needs to figure out how to navigate this competitive art scene, find out who’s harassing him online, and find his happily ever after. It won’t be an easy ride. Read Felix Ever After and find out.
Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation:
Underage drinking, profanity, sex, and LGBTQ+ issues abound in this book. There’s a lot of what can be perceived as permissiveness and privilege in the characters but the story is realistic and all contribute to the understanding of the story. To redact any part of this story will do exactly what the character experiences which is an erasure of his identity.
Underage drinking, profanity, sex, and LGBTQ+ issues abound in this book. There’s a lot of what can be perceived as permissiveness and privilege in the characters but the story is realistic and all contribute to the understanding of the story. To redact any part of this story will do exactly what the character experiences which is an erasure of his identity.
Reason for Inclusion:
This book will resonate with several students, especially our trans students. It is a good book for informing readers about the trans world and its variances and helping us understand how trans people navigate our cis white male dominated world.
This book will resonate with several students, especially our trans students. It is a good book for informing readers about the trans world and its variances and helping us understand how trans people navigate our cis white male dominated world.
REFERENCES
Abbotts, L. (2018, March 17). V.I. author Kheryn Callender raises more than $100K for hurricane relief. The Virgin Islands Daily News. http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/news/v-i-author-kheryn-callender-raises-more-than-k-for/article_c3ce8251-e5fa-56e6-9cb4-73a76902a737.html
Callender, K. (n.d.) TeachingBooks Book Reading | Felix Ever After [Audio file]. Teachingbooks.net. https://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=19768
Macgregor, A. (2020, February 28). Book Review: Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender. School Library Journal Teen Librarian Toolbox. https://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2020/03/book-review-felix-ever-after-by-kacen-callender/
TeachingBooks.net. (2020). Felix Ever After. TeachingBooks. https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=68779
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