A review by kaistephan
Riley Reynolds Crushes Costume Day by Jay Albee

hopeful inspiring lighthearted

2.5

As a nonbinary person, I am always excited to see nonbinary rep in kids books, but this one felt like the authors were so determined for Riley's gender to not be the focus of the story that they ended up with no focus of the story. There are over ten different named characters in a 64 page book. There is an entire chapter of just name-dropping other queer-friendly kids books. There's no narrative arc or emotional payoff - Riley thinks of a costume, Riley makes a costume, Riley and their friends show off the costumes. It might be a good escape for a queer kid who wants representation without the angst, but it plays it so safe it's closer to boring than uplifting.