Freak Show

Title: Freak Show
Author: James St. James
ISBN: 0142412317

Plot Summary: Billy Bloom is a teenage drag queen. He has moved to Florida to live with his father, a well-known local figure, and goes to a conservative high school where his flamboyant persona and outfits make him an outcast, figure of ridicule, and occasional target for violence. He makes a few friends and even falls in love, but it is as hard for the people around him to learn to live with him as it is for him to live with them.


Critical Evaluation: This book is written in Billy's voice, a rather flamboyant, stereotypically "drag queen" style, and occasionally veers into the melodramatic for that reason. Some readers may object that the tone perpetuates a negative stereotype of transvestites; however, I appreciated the fact that the plot dealt with the darker side of homophobia, and how it can erupt into verbal and physical violence.

Reader's Annotation: Billy Bloom is a teenage drag queen who's just entered an upper-crust, conservative high school in Florida. When his classmates finally see him in all his glory, they may be outraged or thrilled, but they certainly won't be bored.


About the Author: James St. James was born in Saginaw, Michigan in 1966 to upper-middle-class parents. He continued to live there with his mother after his parents' divorce, finally moving to Fort Lauderdale with his father after having spent several summers there. He moved to New York in 1984, studying performance art at NYU before dropping out to join the growing club scene. His memoir Disco Bloodbath, published in 1999, detailed the murder of a drug dealer by a friend of St. James, and resulted in St. James moving to Los Angeles to avoid testifying in the case. He published Freak Show, his second book, in 2007, and has appeared on several seasons of  America's Next Top Model.

Genre: Fiction, LGBT

Curriculum Ties: Sex Education


Booktalking Ideas:

Hook: Billy gets ready for his first day of school (p. 11-12)
Approach: Scene-based.
Ideas for Booktalk: How does Billy try to calibrate his outfit to "fit in" at school? Discuss his thought processes and how they demonstrate Billy's take on "straight drag." What is the reaction of Billy's classmates to his efforts to fit in, and what does he take away from the experience? Discuss what this scene reveals about Billy, about the straight world and his perception of it, and how that world reacts to him.

Hook: Billy's relationship with his parents.
Approach: Character-based
Ideas for Booktalk: Billy's mother, in flashbacks, was clearly a strong influence on him and accepted him for who he was, but had demons of her own. His father, to the extent he is in Billy's life at all, mainly wants him to fit in and not cause trouble. How does Billy's relationship with his mother inform his relationship with his father, and vice versa? How did their breakup affect him? How does he react to becoming a part of his father's life, and to his father's local fame, and why? Opportunity to discuss the effects of divorce on teens in a more general sense, if time permits. Also potential to discuss what it's like to have a famous parent, and therefore always be in the public eye, literally or figuratively.

Hook: Billy knows there are dangers inherent in dressing in drag, but continues to do it, getting more and more outrageous in his costumes.
Approach: Plot and character-based.
Ideas for Booktalk: Billy tries to fit in but can't, so decides to keep pushing the envelope. Dressing "normally" is not an option for him: he dresses to express his inner self and feelings. Not all drag queens are homosexual (Eddie Izzard); not all transvestites are male (Teena Brandon); not all homosexuals who are victims of violence dress as the opposite sex (Matthew Shepard). Billy dresses as a woman but does not wish to physically become one (Luna), and is attracted to men. Discuss the various permutations, possibly with a Venn Diagram, to explore the greater issues of sexuality and gender identity.

Reading Level/Interest Age: Grades 9-12


Challenge Issues: Offensive language, homosexuality, violence.
There is much offensive language in this book, some of it homophobic. Although there is no overt sexual content, the main character does kiss another boy, and his sexuality and identity are frequently in conflict with the conservative, Christian values of his classmates. Readers who share those values may object to their derogatory portrayal in this book, and readers of all stripes will be appalled at the scenes of violence which land the main character in the hospital. I feel that it is rare enough to see a portrayal of a teenage transvestite, let alone a positive one, and that the issues the book raises concerning religion and sexuality are ones that every person of faith ought to ask themselves about. There are a number of works of Christian fiction portraying Christian teens and the issues they face growing up; it seems only fair to also have books on the shelves that reflect the issues LGBT teens face, and to do so in a manner that does not pretend dangers do not exist.


Why I Chose This Book: Drag queens are frequently portrayed in the media as sexless, flamboyant figures of fun. However, the reality of being a man who chooses to dress as a woman is far less innocuous, and people react to trans individuals much differently in real life than they do in movies or on TV. Teenage drag queens are barely portrayed at all, and there is very little exploration given to why their gender identity is what it is. This book makes an important step forward in addressing some of these issues, and does so in an accessible and entertaining style which will no doubt appeal even to reluctant readers.