School Library Journal Starred Review (Mon May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Gr 4–8 —Summer camp is a classic setting in children's literature, but few are as warm and affirming as the camp in Melleby and Sass's novel. Told in alternating perspectives, the book follows two children during their first year at an LGBTQIA+ camp: eager but anxious Abigail (she/her), a recently out lesbian, is yearning for accepting friends, whereas aloof, nonbinary Kai (e/em) would much rather leave in favor of eir parkour training. The two make an unlikely alliance during a camp-wide competition. Through crushes and the big feelings that come with having a better understanding of yourself, they learn how fulfilling true friendship can be. Melleby and Sass manage to teach readers a lot about identity, empathy, and boundaries without bogging down the text or adopting a didactic tone. They also deploy just enough humor to remind readers that growing up is difficult and awkward, but not without its share of laughs. Although Kai and Abigail are depicted as white, a wide range of identities—not just gender and sexuality, but race, religion, and ability—are represented, and it only feels natural that all of these folks would be welcome at Camp QUILTBAG. VERDICT A timely and necessary addition to any elementary or middle school library, especially as LGBTQIA+ children are seeking examples of loving communities who fully embrace every part of them.—Alexandra Quay

ALA Booklist (Tue Feb 28 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Middle-schoolers find increased self-awareness and solidarity at an LGBTQ+ camp in this empathetic, widely representative novel, which unites 12-year-old Abigail and 13-year-old Kai from the anthology This Is Our Rainbow (2022), edited by Melleby and Katherine Locke. The novel's protagonists arrive at Camp QUILTBAG as hesitant newcomers after Abigail was ostracized at Catholic school for her crush on Stacy's mom (Laura Dern's also got it going on), and Kai was injured by school bullies who refuse to accept em as e is. Their fellow campers reflect a wide array of often intersectional identities and are at varying stages of their own queer awareness. A camp-wide competition and several miscommunications lend plot tensions, while casual moments like swimming and dance lessons frame important insights around gender expression and identity. Prominent in queer middle-grade fiction, Melleby (The Science of Being Angry, 2022) and Sass (Ellen Outside the Lines, 2022) write with incredible compassion, crafting a sweet summertime romance while modeling difficult conversations and valuable lessons in inclusivity. An instructive, affirming pick for rainbow readers and allies.

Horn Book (Fri Jan 13 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Melleby and Sass bring together the middle school–aged protagonists they each created for the 2021 short-story anthology This Is Our Rainbow (co-edited by Melleby and Katherine Locke) in this novel set at a camp for LGBTQ+ youth. Melleby's Abigail (she/her/hers), all but ostracized by her friends since she admitted to a crush on one of their mothers, begs her parents to send her to the camp. Sass's Kai (e/em/eir) attends under protest: eir parents sign em up after a bullying incident. The two newbies form sometimes-bumpy relationships with each other and with the more seasoned campers in a safe but not necessarily awkwardness-free space. There's a heightened awareness (even more than in other settings) that anyone might be romantically interested in anyone else -- or might not. There's also, realistically, a wide range of knowledge about and comfort with queer identities among the kids: one of them launches a campaign for a more inclusive camp name ("there's no letter in the QUILTBAG acronym for pansexual kids, plus a lot of others"), while Kai tries to remember what pansexual means. Intersectionality in the differences between campers adds another dimension, especially in the area of religion: Abigail attends Catholic school; Kai is "kind of" Jewish and tentatively learns more about Judaism from another camper. This engaging, gently affirming novel should be valuable to young ­readers exploring their own identities or curious about those of others. Shoshana Flax