May 3, 2021
This uneven picture book biography of “LGBTQ+ icon” RuPaul Charles follows the famous Black drag queen from his childhood in San Diego, playing dress-up in his mother and three sisters’ clothes, through his move to Atlanta to study performing arts, to becoming one of “the most fabulous drag queens in the Lower East Side” by the time he was 21. Vegara’s prose relies heavily on summary instead of particularities, and sentences are sometimes overly conceptual (“He mixed a spoonful of everything he loved and admired, and put his heart into becoming the woman of his dreams”). Holmes’s brightly colored digital illustrations, meanwhile, evoke children’s art, with wildly disproportionate bodies and haphazard features that don’t align with the subject’s aesthetic precision. Still, this linear exploration of RuPaul’s life may inspire young readers to seek out further resources. Back matter includes a timeline and additional biographical information. Ages 4–7.
June 1, 2021
Preschool-Grade 2 Before he was born in San Diego in 1960, RuPaul's mother was told by a fortune teller that her child would grow up to be famous. And so he did. This sunny addition to the Little People, Big Dreams biography series shows how he got there, starting with his childhood as a born performer, who liked to play dress up in his sisters' clothes. After studying performing arts in Atlanta and discovering drag, he moved on to New York, where he and his friend Lady Bunny became the most fabulous drag queens on the Lower East Side. From there he grew increasingly famous as a performer, and now that he has his own TV show, RuPaul's Drag Race, he has become a household name. If there is a lesson to be derived from this resolutely inspirational book, it's to be yourself, with the book asserting that "We are born to stand out." Holmes' childlike Illustrations nicely capture the innocent, upbeat spirit of this celebration of self and lift up an LGBTQ+ icon.
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