Flamer

Plot Summary Flamer is about Aiden Navarro, a boy who is at a Boy Scout camp with his troop. Aiden goes around with his troop and other scouts earning merit badges and doing activities. He keeps thinking about another boy in his troop, Elias. Elias is very kind and tries to help Aiden with interacting with others. Aiden starts to wonder if his feelings for Elias is friendship, or something more. Aiden has been taught that being gay is a sin. He also wants to fit in with the other boys. He thinks about how much he enjoys being an altar boy at his local Catholic parish. Aiden struggles with all of these things as he tries to find out who he really is.

Aiden is the main character. He describes himself as chubby and struggles with self-esteem. He is likeable while feeling like he is different from the other boys at the camp. Throughout the story he struggles with these feelings and how he feels about Elias. Elias is an older boy who is a mentor for the other boys, especially Aiden. Another character that is important to mention is the camp counsellor in charge of the orienteering course. He is fired from the camp because he is gay. This character being in charge of the orienteering is important since the course can be a metaphor for Aiden figuring out his own sexuality and how to move forward in life with it.

Author Background: Mike Curato is an illustrator as well as an author. He wrote and illustrated a series of books for children about an elephant with polka dots named Little Elliot. There are five books in the series, starting with Little Elliot, Big City. Mike Curato has done illustrations for other authors, such as What If . . . by Samantha Berger and All the Way to Havana by Margarita Engle. Flamer is his debut Young Adult work. Being a member of the LGBTQ+ community allowed Mike Curato to put some of his own experiences in the book (Curato, 2023).

Critical Evaluation:  Flamer by Mike Curato (2020) is a graphic novel that is semi-autobiographical. The use of a gay slur is used several times. I'm sure that was a conscious point by the writer. Since the writer is queer, I'm almost positive that he was called bad names as he was growing up. The use of the slur in the book was jarring and brought tension to the narrative. The illustrations were mostly in grayscale with some reds and oranges used to symbolize Aiden's emotions and thoughts. Some of them were straight forward in telling the story. If Aiden and Elias were in a canoe, that is what they showed. Other illustrations were highly symbolic. Near the end of the book, Aiden has an experience where he confronts some of his fears in imagined anamorphic form. This experience was explained better through pictures than they would have been through paragraphs of text. Aiden's flashbacks to helping with Mass and his thoughts about homosexuality related to church are well thought out. The emotions shown on Aiden's drawn face made me sad. I enjoyed Flamer so much I got my own copy.

Speed-Round Book Talk or Short Book Trailer: Aiden Navarro is at Boy Scout Camp. usually he enjoys it. This year is different as Aiden struggles with feeling inadequate, different, and having unwanted but real yearning for another boy in his troop.

Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation: This graphic novel is a raw depiction of someone's experiences of realizing that they are gay. Aiden struggles with having a crush on another boy while also having been told that being gay is a sin. A particular gay slur is used several times and some characters display bullying behavior.

Reason for Inclusion: I included this book because of how real the experience felt. I may not be gay, however it is important for all people to be represented in literature. The way that the author, who probably had similar experiences, describes the process of coming to terms with sexuality is important for readers to learn and understand.

In the graphic novel, Aiden talks to Elias about music he likes to listen to in 1995. Here is a sample of songs. The singers are or were queer when they were alive.

Resources

Curato, M. (2023). About. Mike Curato. https://www.mikecurato.com/about. 

hcycamp. (2009, July 2). Camp songs- boom chica boom. [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqeijqydwC8&list=PL9NaXGLDBpWADMfGyRn-F9oIytcyC-7I9.

Madonna. (2009, October 26). Vogue (official video). [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuJQSAiODqI. 

Mike Curato. (2019, November 19). Picture books 101 with Mike Curato on Bluprint. [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo4WcXu_Kx8. 

Nirvana. (2009, June 16). Come as you are (official music video). [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vabnZ9-ex7o. 

The Queer Network. (2020, October 23). Flamer- Queer graphic novel that is changing lives. [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LEepFnev44. 

remhq. (2009, October 26). R.E.M.- everybody hurts (official music video). [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rOiW_xY-kc.