My Fairy Godmother Is a Drag Queen

In a contemporary gay riff on Cinderella, 17-year-old Manhattanite Chris Bellows attends a high-society ball with the help of a drag queen, Ms. Coco Chanel Jones. Soon after, Chris begins a secret romance with a young political hopeful, J.J. Kennerly, even though J.J. is dating Chris’s stepsister Kimberly. First-time novelist Clawson touches on topics of class, sexuality, and politics, but the story’s pacing and characterizations leave much to be desired. Chris and J.J.’s romance is kept so hidden that their chemistry is nearly nonexistent, and while Chris’s complicated relationship with his stepfamily could be discussion worthy, the secondary characters are largely one-dimensional. Chris’s relationship with Coco is more interesting, but the language surrounding their interactions reads as stereotypical and off-putting (Chris’s first impression of Coco when she’s not in drag is of a “slightly thuggish-looking black guy in oversized hip-hop clothes... dressed in a way that would have made me wonder if I was being racist or just reasonably cautious if I tried to avoid crossing his path too closely”), even if it’s intended to reflect Chris’s naiveté. Ages 14–up. [em]Agent: Claire Abramowitz, Cartel Entertainment. (May) [/em]