When Everything Feels like the Movies (Governor General's Literary Award winner, Children's Literature) - Softcover

Reid, Raziel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1551525747 ISBN 13: 9781551525747

Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2015

Synopsis

Winner, Governor General's Literary Award

Finalist, Lambda Literary Award and Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction

"Raziel Reid is a really extraordinary guy. He's got a great thing going."—Anne Rice

School is just like a film set: there's The Crew, who make things happen, The Extras who fill the empty desks, and The Movie Stars, whom everyone wants tagged in their Facebook photos. But Jude doesn't fit in. He's not part of The Crew because he isn't about to do anything unless it's court-appointed; he's not an Extra because nothing about him is anonymous; and he's not a Movie Star because even though everyone know his name like an A-lister, he isn't invited to the cool parties. As the director calls action, Jude is the flamer that lights the set on fire.

Before everything turns to ashes from the resulting inferno, Jude drags his best friend Angela off the casting couch and into enough melodrama to incite the paparazzi, all while trying to fend off the haters and win the heart of his favourite co-star Luke Morris. It's a total train wreck!

But train wrecks always make the front page.

Raziel Reid is a graduate of the New York Film Academy. He currently lives in Vancouver.

About this title

About the Author

Raziel Reid is a former club kid and go-go dancer and a graduate of the New York Film Academy. While in New York, he starred off-Broadway in a production of Check, Please and wrote and starred in the short film End Point. Reid's debut novel When Everything Feels like the Movies won the Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Literature (Text) and was the runner-up in CBC's Canada Reads 2015 competition. His screenplay of the novel is being produced by Random Bench.

Reviews

Gr 10 Up—Reid introduces readers to Jude, a gay teen who fantasizes about being a movie star. Jude, who has been given the nickname Judy by some classmates, is fairly comfortable with his sexual orientation as well as his desire to wear his mother's beautiful dresses and makeup. In order to deal with the homophobia he confronts at school and home, Jude slips into his fantastical life as a movie star constantly tortured by paparazzi. Throughout the book, Jude explains how his school is like a movie set and his family, friends, and enemies are all players in the melodrama. This story is a whirlwind of gender-bending drama with plenty of pop culture references. Underneath the references to drugs and sex, the story is simply about a teen boy looking to find a place where he is accepted and celebrated. VERDICT A fun choice for readers who can handle mature content.—April Sanders, Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL

Edition details

• Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1551525747
• ISBN 13: 9781551525747
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 176