The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, Illustrated by Anshika Khullar
Published by Hachette Children’s Group
THE use of narrative verse in this novel filled with poetry and heart proves that it is possible, accessible and worthwhile introducing to young adults.
Dean Atta’s The Black Flamingo is the story of one young man’s life, focusing on his personal discovery in relation to race, sexuality as well as his performances as a poet and drag artist, and his growing independence and embrace of the differences that make him who he is.
The humour, honesty, pain and joy shared along the way are not unique to him but rather prove to be beautiful moments of insight on universal aspects of life as told from a unique perspective.
Michael is only six when we first meet him and, as with all children, there is a lot in his life he cannot yet fully understand but that affects him. This is captured in the first section of this novel through moments displaying an innocence often in contrast with the complications and pessimism of the adults around him.
He doesn’t understand why when he asks for only a Barbie on his birthday, he’s thought not to be serious and doesn’t get the one toy he wanted despite the fact the girls around him have whole families of dolls.
As Michael grows older he feels divided, living with his Greek Cypriot mother and growing closer to everyone in his Jamaican father’s family seemingly except his father who fades in and out of the story and his mind. Michael learns slowly, over time not to see himself as these two halves but as one individual although he is also dealing with the uncertainty of school friendships and learning he’s gay.
While some at school, particularly those he once thought would be kind become bullies he finds refuge in the quiet girl in his class, Daisy, who accepts him for who he is and sits with him to read in companionable silence as his passion for poetry grows and he starts to write his own.
Through his teenage years, Michael falls in and out of the possibility of relationships with boys who are unavailable or untrustworthy. However, he finds independence studying English at university.
It’s within this space that Michael finds and joins the drag society. It is a space where people are joined not only by common traits but by a common purpose – to build a piece of performance art together. He makes new friends within and outside of his new drag community. Through his drag persona, The Black Flamingo, Michael looks back on his childhood seeing himself as being like a single black flamingo in a sea of pink, his desire to find and allow himself femininity he once did not feel safe in.
The story of Michael’s character as told through verse captures the impacts of of race, class, patriarchy and more and offers a hopeful path of growth through it all with the power to entertain and inspire.
