Freak Show by James St. James

Summary

Freak Show tells the tale of Billy Bloom, a not so average teenage boy; which quite alright with him.  Because Billy is far from being average; because is just FABU!  As a drag princess, Billy has no problems, wearing extravagant dress, putting on make-up, and has a loud but proud attitude towards life.  While he was attending high school in Connecticut, he was the leader of GSA; but his bi-polar mom, decided to ship Billy off to his father to take care of him in Florida.   During his first day of school at Dwight D. Eisenhower High School, Billy realizes that he is an outsider and is bullied by numerous school groups.  In an effort to put an end to the teasing and taunting; Billy decides to go to school in full drag.  Unfortunately, that puts him in the hospital. After the near fatal beating, Billy and his classmates received a lesson that changed their opinions about one another, and forced them to realize that hate does not need to exist. 

Commentary on the Strengths

 James St. James a famous New York club kid whose novel, Freak Show is a modern realistic contemporary fiction novel.  The novel deals with High School life in a humorous but poignant manner.  It is also a romance novel that deals with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues.   Though the novel was written ten years ago; the theme regarding acceptance and LGBTQ students is one that is resonates with today’s society and youth.  This book helps students that are questioning their sexual orientation know that it is alright to express their sexuality, because they can see themselves with the characters from this book.  The book was named to the American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults list.  

Readers also enjoyed Totally Joe by James Howe;  Absolutely Positively Not by David LaRochelle; The Last Exit to Normal by Michael Harmon; Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger; and Sprout by Dale Peek

An additional book written by James St. James is Party Monster: A Fabulous but True Tale of Murder in Clubland.

Teachers can find ideas to incorporate this book into their lesson plans at the following website: https://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?aid=6874

      James, J. S. (2008). Freak show. New York: Speak.