Rick by Alex Gino

Prompt: Middle Grade

Other prompts it fulfills: Aromantic mc, NB- & disabled author

Rick’s never questioned much. He’s tagged along with his best friend Jeff, even when Jeff’s acted like a bully. He’s let his Dad joke with him about girls, even though it makes him feel uncomfortable. Everyone around him seems to think that they’ve figured him out. But the truth is, Rick hasn’t given his own identity much thought. Now Rick’s in middle school, and it’s a place of new possibilities. With the help of his new friends that he meets at the Rainbow Spectrum club, Rick embarks on a journey to find out who he truly is. An inspiring story about finding your place in the world

My thoughts

I like how the impulse to think about sexuality is given by other people. Rick seems a lot like me, I needed a long time til I managed to think about these things. If my friends and I had been talking about sexuality whilst at school, I probably wouldn’t have only figured it out in my mid-twenties.

Grandpa Ray is great. He is someone who tells Rick what a jerk Jeff is. He doesn’t judge Rick too harshly for being friends with him and is there for Rick when he decides to end that friendship.

It is nice to see someone grow from a child to a ten, figuring out who they are and what they want (at that point in time).

It makes me wish to have had a club such as SPEKTRUM when I went to school.

All in all, I really liked the book. It touches so much of the GRSM-community without being preachy. It was a joy to read.

💚💚💚💚💚 out of 5 💚