Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: acceptance

  • Reena’s Rainbow

    Reena’s Rainbow

    A beautiful story about fitting in and being accepted has been woven thought the clear, seeing eyes of Reena, who is deaf and a little brown dog at the park, that does not appear to have a home.

    When Reena goes to play at the park she is always the best at hide and seek. Her clear, seeing eyes always spot the other children when they hiding. She is the best. But when it is her turn to hide she is so successful they cannot find her. She does not hear them calling or hear them leave the park. Suddenly she finds she is all alone.

    The little brown dog comes up to comfort her until Reena’s mother comes to find her. On their next visit to the park both Reena and the little brown dog save Thomas from becoming seriously hurt, which is when the other children discover that although she and her new, beloved, best friend little brown dog, might be different, they too are also special. That is also when Reena begins to understand, that she and little brown dog, are also a part of the rainbow Reena’s mother is always talking about.

    Dee White along with the colourful and descriptive illustrations from Tracie Grimwood offer a comfortable basis from which to discuss with your children, or a class group, that everyone is special, regardless of their disabilities, underwriting this with the message that true friends, no matter who they are, will always accept and love you for who you are, and not what you are.

    Reena’s Rainbow is a heart-warming story about love, diversity, friendship and acceptance, which will resonate with children young and old which will also make a good introduction to the many different and diverse people to be found in today’s  world.

  • My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen

    My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen

    Sometimes these outrageous stories hit the marketplace at exactly the right time: in Australia the issue of sexuality and lifestyle is currently a red hot issue. Through the eyes of Chris Bellows, a young teen who, like a lot of young people is struggling with his sexuality, we enter the world of alternates and choices.

    Chris is a member of a seriously dysfunctional family. After the death of Chris’s much loved mother, his father marries socialite Iris, who happens to like the contents of a wine bottle, a whole lot better than she likes the world about her.

    Sadly, his father dies, leaving Chris in a world that suddenly seems to have gone complete bizarre; a world where he is treated like the unpaid help, the Cinderella of the household, at the beck and call of not just his stepmother, but also is step-siblings. The family are facing severe financial constraints:  the solution: to marry the gorgeous Kimberly off to the highest bidder. The campaign is to be launched at the Autumnal Ball where ‘the most eligible Batchelor in America’, in the person of J.J. Kennerly, will be with his family.

    Plans are laid, money is spent and when the family depart, leaving Chris sitting on the steps of his home in something like despair, he looks up to see none other than Diana Ross, obviously not THE Diana Ross looking at him, and that is when things begin to get seriously interesting.

    Coco Chanel Jones is Drag Queen, performing at the Autumnal Ball, when she realises she has left her purse at home, the cab driver dumps her unceremoniously in the street. She enlists Chris’s help to get to the event in time and in doing so, unlocks the door to a world he vaguely understood existed: a world where to be different was the norm and to accept your sexuality was a tough challenge, but one that was well understood.

    Of course, Kimberly meets up with the wonderful JJ Kennerly and things appear to be moving on a little when Chris, who has been smuggled into the ball and JJ Kennerly meet up unexpectedly, eyeing each other with that certain look, leaving both to wonder just what has happened so unexpectedly. He and Chris fall in love. Although Chris and JJ do attempt to keep the relationship a little on the clandestine side, or at least they think they have, both families discover what is going on and are horrified, if not scandalized! Or are they really!

    David Clawson has, in a most entertaining and enjoyably outrageous manner, created what could easily be considered as the ‘gaye’ version of Cinderella, circa 2017, which while it deals with the many aspects of sexuality, also deals sensitively with the emotions, heartache and despair felt by many when they realise that the ‘normal’ societal lifestyle is not for them.

    Perfect for this age where marriage equality and sexuality is an open forum discussion, marriage rights are changing across the world and people are beginning to be accepted for who they are, not their sexual preferences. After all what is really ‘normal.’