I would like to share a children’s book with you Cinda Meets Ella: A Fairly Queer Tale by Wallace West I received to review. I would like to suggest this book be read with parents only because children may have questions about the things they here inside the story. Which isn’t something I believe in. I want my son to know about all types of people and their lifestyles so I choose to share this book with Charlie.
As far as this book is concerned, I wouldn’t share it with my niece or nephew without their parents’ supervision because there may be things in the book they didn’t understand or their parents wouldn’t want them to learn about at their ages of 7 and 8. The story line is cute, and the outfits are fun to look at and I liked the horses and her red boots a lot.
When I look back to my childhood, I don’t remember ever hearing someone was GAY or even seeing anyone who was. Which means I must have lived with blinders on because as I grew up I learned my uncle and Cousins were gay. I remember my dad asking why the LORD would let these people into his family even though he loved them and would have done anything for them.
Now Charlie and I’ve been learning that two of his best friends are dating a girl who doesn’t want to be recognized as a woman or a man but a number one. As well as the other girl who is only 15 and wants to cut her top half of her chest off so she has no, bobbies. As I heard this, I just sat on the couch shaking my head asking what the world is coming to.
Then I look at my son and remember my daughter’s stepmom asking me if Charlie was gay. At times I’ve wondered but Charlie swears he isn’t and if he is it’s his life and no, I don’t agree with this lifestyle but it’s not going to keep me from loving my son. Then you open the BIBLE, and it says one man for one woman no, were does it say a man for a man and a woman for a woman. To me this is breaking the LORDS wishes which no, one should do but it’s not my place to judge others so as long as people are happy that is all that matters and its why I would like to thank the AUTHOR for writing a children’s book on such a hard subject with so much love and compassion with a touch of laughter thrown in. So, before you say, no I am not going to let my children read this book please sit down and read it and see what these characters went through, and they just might change your mind like they did mine and Charlie.
About:
About the Book:
Cinda sure loves a good adventure…but her life’s been nothing but miserable since awful Aunt Hildy and her boys tromped in and took over. So when a mysterious Rider calls a roping-and-riding contest at the Rancho Del Reina, she sure as heck’s gotta enter. That cash prize’ll buy back her freedom! Can she giddyap and grab the gold—and Ella Del Reina’s attention—before sundown?
About the Author:
Wallace West is the author of the first Fairly Queer Tale, Mighty Red Riding Hood, which School Library Journal described as “a classic in the making, for all fairy-tale shelves, and sure to be a read-aloud favorite.” A Texas native now rooted in the Northeast, he spends the rest of his time in faraway places and has more than once galloped on horseback through the woods of Normandy. Wallace says he wrote these Fairly Queer Tales because “I want to show non-gender conforming kids that being queer is an exciting and empowering kind of different, and that happily-ever-after feels the same—even if it doesn’t look the same—for everyone.” He invites you to see more of his work at wallacewest.com, on IG and Twitter @gowallacewest.
About:
A Western-style twist on the classic fairytale Cinderella that breaks gender stereotypes, Cinda finds a partner in nonbinary Ella at a high-stakes rodeo-style contest. In a time when books with this kind of representation are being actively censored, West writes fairly queer tales to show non-gender-conforming kids that everyone deserves a happily-ever-after. With Cinda’s sense of style and actions breaking the gender norm, and nonbinary Ella, CINDA MEETS ELLA can be used to discuss the different types of gender identity, gender norms, and family dynamics many people have.
Told in Wallace West’s distinctive, chuckle-inducing read-aloud style bursting with Southwestern flair, here is a story that shows readers a different but equally satisfying kind of happily ever after.
West’s previous picture book Might Red Riding Hood: A Fairly Queer Tale received glowing praise, including “[this] genderflipped classic painlessly defies gender norms to empowering effect” (Booklist) and “Durn’ funny… our self-assured, chic protagonist is a joyful model of a ‘I’ll do me, you do you’ attitude” (Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books).
Meet the Author
Wallace West is the author of the first Fairly Queer Tale, Mighty Red Riding Hood, which School Library Journal described as “a classic in the making, for all fairy-tale shelves, and sure to be a read-aloud favorite.” A Texas native now rooted in the Northeast, he spends the rest of his time in faraway places and has more than once galloped on horseback through the woods of Normandy.
Wallace says he wrote these Fairly Queer Tales because “I want to show non-genderconforming kids that being queer is an exciting and empowering kind of different, and that happily-ever-after feels the same—even if it doesn’t look the same—for everyone.” He invites you to see more of his work at wallacewest.com.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
