MOST CITIES CELEBRATE PRIDE MONTH in June. The LGBTQ+ celebration marks the not-so-rainbow-hued occasion of the Stonewall Riots in late-June 1969, when, what was at that time, a routine police raid on a gay bar in New York City turned into five days of riots and protests resulting in multiple injuries and arrests, as the patrons of that establishment and the greater community decided to fight back. That act of defiance is noted as the catalyst for the gay rights movement in America, which persists today as the notion of equal rights for homosexual and transgender individuals is still being challenged some 50 years later.
Kitsap, Bainbridge and Tacoma Pride Festivals are taking place this month. Tacoma’s celebration is happening July 7-9, the Bainbridge festival is July 15 and the Kitsap festival is July 22. Rather than get mired in the volatile and sometimes violent political stuff currently surrounding these issues, I’d like to point your attention to a fictional character who goes by the name of Sparrow.
I was introduced to this character last month as Ballast Books hosted Bremerton-by-way-of-Appalachia Middle Grade Author Ash Van Otterloo, marking the release of their most recent book ‘The Beautiful Something Else.’
In the book, Sparrow lives with their single mother who struggles with addiction and lingering childhood trauma, which she refers to as her ’shadow.’ While navigating early teenage years on a topsy-turvy journey through multiple different schools and homes, on top of the ups and downs of a not-always-great home life, and an uncomfortable feeling that they aren’t yet able to identify as gender dysphoria, Sparrow also plays the role of protector for their caretaker. When mom is involved in an accident while under the influence and sent to rehab, Sparrow is sent to live with their Aunt and Uncle where they encounter and are forced to confront their own ‘shadow,’ and finds a beautiful something else…
The story is woven together with excerpts from Sparrow’s homework on observations of the scientific and natural world at the beginning of each chapter which tie into the journey of the main character. Its prose speaks honestly and innocently about the feelings and emotions of coming of age and provides a personal perspective of what it’s like to be a trans person. When I picked up the book, the bookseller said the ending made them cry and that the author would be at the Kitsap Pride Fest if I wanted to get my copy signed.
Full disclosure, I haven’t read a YA novel in many years. But I still remember the first novel I read cover to cover. I can still see the cover in my mind. It was called ‘The Contender.’ The book was about a troubled Black New York City high school dropout who struggles with drug addiction and gang stuff but finds self-worth and redemption through an underground boxing gym. In the end, he finds his grit and overcomes his demons through his time training and in the ring. And in turn, he commits himself to helping his friend in overcoming his own demons, which is where the book ends.
Years later, this is interesting to me because I grew up in a fairly stable family in a white suburban middle-of-nowhere neighborhood. There were no gangs. There were no Black people. Those kind of drugs were far from prevalent. I’d never been in a boxing ring. Never been to jail. This book was published some 20 years before I was born. And I wasn’t even yet a teenager when I read it. Yet, the narrative of this kid confronting and overcoming personal demons, outside prejudice and influence and being a ‘contender’ in the face of adversity, stuck with me.
Flash back to the present, as I’m reading ‘The Beautiful Something Else’ and rooting for Van Otterloo’s main character on their journey of self-discovery in confronting and contending with their ‘Shadow,’ I’m reminded that no matter what orientation, gender race, zip code, age, tax bracket, et al, at the root, we are all human. We all have shadows. We all contend for our own self-worth and safety, and for that of those we hold dear. // JAMES MUNK
Catch Ash Van Otterloo with fellow trans author H.E. Edgmon at the Ballast Books booth at Kitsap Pride July 22 at the Kitsap Fairgrounds. Find more on Kitsap Pride at kitsappride.org. And find more on ‘The Beautiful Something Else’ at ashvanotterloo.com
