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Reviewed by:
  • The Insiders by Mark Oshiro
  • Kiri Palm
Oshiro, Mark The Insiders. HarperCollins, 2021 [384p]
Trade ed. ISBN 9780063008106 $16.99
E-book ed. ISBN 9780063008120 $8.99
Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 5-8

Orangevale is nothing like his old neighborhood in San Francisco, but Héctor Muñoz is determined to make a good impression at his new school. Unfortunately, Héctor proves too dramatic, too gay, too different for his new classmates, especially Mike and his awful Minions, experts in bullying kids and getting away with it. Héctor starts hiding in a janitor’s closet to avoid Mike, and one day when he runs into the closet he discovers a room full of video games, a soft bed, and even a pitcher of his abuela’s horchata. Things take an even stranger turn when Héctor walks in on Juliana, a musical maven from Nashville with a secret, and nonbinary Sal, shunned by their classmates. All three kids have stumbled into the Room at their own moments of crisis, each finding the quiet and comfort that they needed while struggling at their respective schools. This is a departure from Oshiro’s previous outing (Each of Us a Desert, BCCB 10/20), but this literary left turn exemplifies the author’s talent across genres and styles. Colloquial, quippy third-person narration gets a lift from Héctor’s dry sense of humor and a multitude of Spanish conversations thrown in. Along with Héctor’s bilingual family, the full cast is refreshingly and effortlessly diverse, with Black teachers, Muslim new friends, and biracial main characters (Juliana and Sal are Black/Chinese and white/Filipino respectively). With its modern dialogue, engaging cast, and painfully real depictions of bullying, this middle-grade debut is written with an expert hand. Pair with Weeks’ Save Me a Seat (BCCB 4/16) for further discussion of bullying and racism or Grehan’s The Deepest Breath (BCCB 3/21) to round out conversations on queerness, anxiety, and familial support.

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