Small Town Pride

Juvenile fiction 

     "Still, a part of me wanted more.  I thought I'd feel like a whole new person: confident, full of pride.  It's not like they did anything wrong.  But I wanted them to, I don't know, prove to me that this doesn't change anything.  Make me feel like my whole family supports me.  My whole village supports me."

     Jake, protagonist of Phil Stamper's Small Town Pride, on the school bus ride home, is talking to his best friend, Jenna, about coming out to his parents.  He's not quite sure how they're taking his announcement...

     ...until the bus gets to his stop and everyone on the bus sees a huge rainbow 🌈 pride flag flying in front of his house.

     Not surprisingly not everyone in Jake's village (they don't have a big enough population to be considered a town) is enthusiastic about the flag.  The mayor who tries to convey the image of unity by squashing any hint of controversy is especially irked.  She just wants the issue to go away already...

     ...which is so not going to happen.  Brett, the mayor's son, tells Jake:

     "But anyway, on the drive up here, Mom was telling Dad about how that pastor called her this morning, ranting about your flag.  It's not funny, it shouldn't be funny, but he seemed so out of touch that even she was laughing about it.  He said something like 'Next thing you know, we'll have a whole pride parade in this town, and then what?'"

     This puts a new idea in Jake's head.  He wants a pride festival in his village that isn't all about school sports.

     Only any kind of big event has to be approved by the town council.  The mayor has said that will never happen on her watch.  Not only does she have the whole council in her pocket, but she'll do anything it takes, even changing municipal rules, to enforce her will.

     Can a group of kids win over such formidable opposition?

     Read the book 📖 and see.

On a purrrsonal note, I had a really good birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊.  I was at school where I saw lots of friends.  A friend took me to a special gourmet food tasting event.  Class was great.  I got some nice gifts.  Tobago gave me the best one--a night 🌙 she didn't wake me up once, just snuggled all night.  To me a birthday is a chance to realize my great good fortune to be alive and healthy with a wonderful family and friends, a great educational program, and an amazing future.  (Jules)

And a chance to celebrate 🍾 ✨️ 💕 that I have my Jules.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to our family and friends with wishes for a wonderful autumn 🍂 weekend.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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