Green and Deephaven

Gino, Alex. Green

October 3, 2023 by Scholastic Press

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Set in the same Jung Middle School setting as Melissa (once titled George; update your copy if you haven't already) and Rick, we meet Green, a nonbinary student who lives with their father. Green is friends with the aforementioned characters, and they are all in the Rainbow Spectrum club. Mr. Sydney was the faculty advisor of this group last year, when Mx. Abrams was on parental leave. Now that Mx. Abrams is back, there is going to be a school play. The kids are concerned that (because of very real financial concerns) the play chosen is the very old The Wizard of Oz. This means that not only are all the main characters male and female, there are also no queer characters, which concerns the Rainbow Spectrum contingent. Melissa is bound and determined to play Dorothy, but the kids want to make sure that roles are not assigned across gender lines, and write a letter asking that this be considered. The director says that is fine, and people can decide to portray their characters any way they want, and also tells them about the queer connections the play has, especially when it comes to Judy Garland. This makes the group feel better, but Green is dismayed when they don't get to play the part of the Tin Person, especially given the iconic line that character has, "Of course, some people do go both ways". It's not all bad, though, because Melissa's friend Ronnie is on the crew, and Green has a bit of a crush on Ronnie and doesn't mind spending time with him. They've had conversations, though, and Ronnie has identified himself as a cis het male who has only ever been interested in girls romantically. Green can accept this, and is glad they are friends. It's harder to accept the changes that puberty is causing in their body, however. Assigned Female At Birth (AFAB), Green is enjoying the new curves and softness their body has, but finds getting their period to be rather horrifying. Ideally, Green would like to keep the curves, but have a beard like her father's. Green has a conversation with Melissa about hormone blockers, and tries to be grateful that there are options available to Green that are not as easy for Melissa. As the play progresses, the Rainbow Spectrum starts to enjoy the play and the performing, learns a lot about LGBTQIAP+ history, and is able to share it with the larger community. Green tries to come to terms with their changing body, but does at least have a satisfactory relationship with Ronnie, who returns Green's affections. 

Strengths: Green is a very happy and confident seventh grader who has a very supportive family as well as an understanding group of friends. Jung Middle School is a very diverse school where teachers generally know how to talk to students about a wide range of issues and are welcoming and inclusive. Of course, seventh grade is hard for most people, and first crushes are always confusing, even without the different levels of complexity that come with Green's identity. The students interest in working on an older play but making it relevant to today's concerns is interesting to watch; having seen a production of Oklahoma a few years ago and been horrified by it, I wish that more plays werre held up to this kind of scrutiny. The best thing about this book is the generally upbeat tone and the wide array of characters. 
Weaknesses: While I appreciate why it is necessary to describe all of the characters in great detail and also cover a lot of gender politics and LGBTQIAP+ history, it does slow down the book down a bit. There are also several scenes, like the pancake breakfast, that don't further the action of the book. 

What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like Melleby and Sass' Camp Quiltbag or Federle's Better Nate Than Never. I make sure I read all of the books that are in my school library in case students have questions about them, and if you want to include this in your school or classroom library, it's not a bad idea to read it yourself so you are aware of information that students may want to unpack. 

I preferred Deephaven's approach to a nonbinary main character; little is explained. Nev just is who they are, and adventures are had. Just depends on how much you want a book to be ABOUT identity. In middle grade, I find that while identity is important, plot is the deciding factor in whether or not readers like the books. 

Aldridge, Ethan M. Deephaven.

September 5, 2023 by Quill Tree Book 

Copy provided by Edelweiss Plus

Guinevere "Nev" Tallow (who uses they/them pronouns) has been living in the city during the Great Depression. Their mother has died, and their father has been making sketchy choices, and is hauled off by loan sharks shortly after Nev has gotten an invitation to attend Deephaven, an exclusive private school in a secluded New England Valley. They are offered a scholarship, and when the father is no longer in the picture, Nev writes to accept the position. Still, even though there is someone to pick them up, the school is eerily deserted when they arrive. Patience Sleepwell is there, and shows Nev around, even making them a sandwich since the cooks aren't on duty. Each scholar at Deephaven gets a private room, and this is fairly luxurious to Nev, who is used to trying to earn a living selling small clockwork toys from a blanket in the park. Nev constantly wears a heavy, dark green jacket, and frequently appropriates objects lying about, like spools or pens, secreting them in their jacket just in case. Principal Blanchly is very stern, and tells Nev that the clockwork animals are what brought them to the school's attention, and that this is a rare opportunity that shouldn't be taken lightly. Nev does fairly well, but comes to the attention of a supercilious prefect, Thaddeus, who doesn't like their kind. They do make friends with Danny, a fencer, and the two investigate the forbidden East Wing together. The wing was closed after a partial collapse killed a student, and is strictly off limits. Nev feels that there is a bigger secret, and gets into trouble for entering the area, but doesn't give up. After Patience has a soiree to which Nev is invited, Nev finds out that the school harbors a dastardly secret that they hope to unravel. Will this be possible without losing the position at the exclusive school?

The Depression setting does allow Nev to travel by train and communicate by letter, and also lets students wear older styles of clothing that Aldridge can render beautifully in line drawings throughout the book, but there's no reason to set it during this time, unless it is to deprive Nev of parents. Middle grade fantasy manages to do that regularly anyway, but the threat of a poor house in the 1940s is something different. 

Nev does manage to uncover secrets that the staff is hiding, and that the students are complicit in. The monster is rather scary, and the reason behind its existence is definitely dark. I would have liked to have known more about why Deephaven existed, and what its specialized curriculum covers, but since academy tales often come in series, perhaps we will find out more in the next book. 

Alexander's Gallowgate is the most closely related book to this spooky title, but readers of academy stories like Elle's A Taste Of Magic, Thomas' Nic Blake and the Remarkables, Whitesides' Janitors School of Garbage, and especially Fournet's Brick Dust and Bones and Royce's Conjure Island will find that Deephaven is a school that they would like to attend rather than the one in The Book That Shall Not Be Named.

This author's graphic novels Estranged and The Changeling King are very popular in my library, which is a bit unusual, as most of my graphic novel readers don't want fantasy. There are a lot of elements in Deephaven that will resonate with different readers; it has an LGBTQIA+ element for fans of McCarthy's B.E.S.T. World or Perry's Cameron Battle, and the darkness of Noble's The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane. I'll probably purchase for my school library because I think it will be popular, as it will appeal to readers who like to dress in all black and color their fingernails with black Sharpie markers. Just not my favorite.