Second Dad Summer

by Benjamin Klas, Fian Arroyo (Illustrator)

Overview

Jeremiah just wants a normal summer with his dad. But his dad has moved in with his new boyfriend Michael who serves weird organic food and is constantly nagging him. Worst of all, Michael rides a bicycle decorated to look like a unicorn. This is not the summer Jeremiah wanted. But Jeremiah soon learns that being a family comes in many surprising forms.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781947159242
Publisher:	Red Chair Press
Publication date:	08/04/2020
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.25(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	8 - 9 Years

About the Author

Benjamin Klas lives in Minnesota with his partner and their son. His work has appeared in literary magazines and a collection by LGBTQ authors.

Fian Arroyo has been illustrating for more than 20 years. He lives in the mountains of North Carolina. When he is not drawing he can be found fishing or mountain biking.

Editorial Reviews

2019-12-18
A young man learns about Pride, tolerance, and acceptance in this heartwarming debut.

Iowan Jeremiah usually enjoys spending summers with his father, Al, a construction worker who lives in Minneapolis. Except now those summers include Al's new boyfriend, Michael, a man with highlighted hair who drinks organic teas, rides around on a unicorn-themed bicycle, and comes across as way too gay for Jeremiah's taste. As the summer progresses, Jeremiah's friendships with Sage, a girl who lives close by with her moms, and Mr. Keeler, an older, gay next-door neighbor who shares his love of gardening, help him rethink his view of Michael and his beliefs about masculinity. Klas' novel is a timely salute to the evolving picture of a traditional American family. The author's mastery of this subject matter is evident in the smallest details of the world he creates, from the urban smells of a big city and the spirit of a Pride festival to Jeremiah's angst over Michael's use of nicknames reserved for his parents. Arroyo's black-and-white cartoon illustrations give further texture to the story. Through Klas' eminently likable young protagonist, readers enter a space where homosexuality and bisexuality are thoughtfully discussed and traditional ideas of masculinity are explored and challenged. The cast is default white, but the diversity within the LGBTQ community is thoughtfully presented, including in the persons of Sage and her mother Lisa, who are Hmong (Sage was conceived via artificial insemination).

Touching and unforgettable. (Fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews

". . . [A] cornucopia of discussion topics and an array of positive alternative role models . . ."—starred, Booklist

From the Publisher