I got this book earlier in the year, having previously enjoyed three books by Benjamin Dean. I can't remember where, but it has been on the piles of new books in my bedroom for a few months at least. Yes, they are terrible piles of books. No, I will not stop adding to them any time soon. I'm trying to keep getting to them... and I have made a bit of headway on that! Hence why I picked this up!
I will say that while I think some of Benjamin's other books are firmly Young Adult, this skews a little bit younger. It's older middle grade or young YA, I think. The main character is twelve, I think, but her sister is sixteen. It's more like Me, My Dad, and the End of the Rainbow in that regard, which I also loved.
So, prior to the events of the book, Bea's family has been happy. The year before, her sister Riley had come out, and her parents decided to take her and Bea to Pride in London. The family had a great day, celebrating Riley and all being happy themselves. Riley is eager to go again, but a year later everything is different. Their dad has died, meaning the girls and Mum are struggling financially in London. At the end of the school year, Mum announces that they are moving to live with Gran for the summer, until she gets something sorted.
Riley is fuming. She doesn't want to miss Pride and she doesn't want to be away from her friends. Bea has plans too with her friends, but she's slightly less annoyed about it. Gran is a lovely person and they love her, but the small town she lives in is really boring. Isn't it?
Bea starts to make friends, and ends up being admitted to their den. Riley makes a couple of friends, too, including someone who is queer like her. But a woman called Rita basically runs the place. She makes everyone take part in her summer fete. Gran has come up against her a few times before, because she knows her own mind. But Bea has a crackers idea to hold her own Pride parade in the hope of cheering up her sister... but that means going up against Rita. Can she and her new friends do it?
This is a cute book and perfect for the age group I think. I felt like it lost something in the middle a bit, so I'm giving it three and a half out of five.
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