Freak Show

by James St. James

Hardcover, 2007

Status

Available

Call number

479

Genres

Collection

Your library

Publication

Dutton Juvenile (2007), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover, 304 pages

Description

Having faced teasing that turned into a brutal attack, Christianity expressed as persecution, and the loss of his only real friend when he could no longer keep his crush under wraps, seventeen-year-old Billy Bloom, a drag queen, decides the only to become fabulous again is to run for Homecoming Queen at his elite, private school near Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

User reviews

LibraryThing member kewpie

The character Billy Bloom is not only gay, but he’s a drag queen. And we aren’t talking a vanilla Liza Minelli impersonator. She’s like Zelda Fitzgerald – after she burned to death in a fire. She’s Carrie covered in pig blood. Billy is so over the top, fabulous and real. Take away the

flamboyant costumes and the melodrama, Billy is still a provocative character. He tells the story of the outsider and someone who won’t compromise his dreams and hopes to fit in with the crowd. Finally there is a PG-13 rated book for teens who may grow up to be early John Waters film fans.

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LibraryThing member jenniferthomp75

Billy Bloom is a self-declared glitteroid queen and gender obscurist. Too fabulous to declare himself a general drag queen, Billy knows who he is and isn't afraid to share it with the world. Unfortunately for him, the world does not share his "equality for all" views. Billy has moved from

Connecticut to Florida, where he is welcomed into his new school by being beaten into a coma.

However, out of this comes a beautiful, complicated and fascinating friendship with the star jock and all-around BMOC Flip. Their friendship goes through ups and downs and will resonate will many teens.

Billy's narration, at points charming, whimsical, snarky and hilarious, is always entertaining and well-rounded. I really felt for Billy as a human being and all the suffering he has to go through just to be who he is. An eye-opening read.

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LibraryThing member kpickett

Billy Bloom, teen drag queen, has just moved in with his father in Florida to attend the ultra-white, ultra-rich, ultra-conservative Dwight D. Eisenhower Academy. Unfortunately, Billy’s new classmates are not as accepting of his fashion and exuberant attitude as his previous school in Darien,

Connecticut. However, he is sure that his swarthy pirate outfit for the first day of school will win them all over.Billy’s unfailingly positive outlook on his new situation is heartbreaking to say the least. When Billy gets a crush on the school quarterback, it becomes positively tragic. When it finally becomes obvious to Billy that he will never be accepted by those in control of Dwight D. Eisenhower Academy, after some very serious beatings that land him in the hospital, Billy decides on the perfect revenge, and beings his campaign to be elected Prom Queen. Billy, encourages other “freaks” to come out of the woodwork and take what is rightfully theirs from the undeservingly popular.

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LibraryThing member samtheteenlibrarian

Billy Bloom is a fabulous drag queen of a teenager who finds himself out of luck when his mother sends him off to live with his rich father in the rural Florida swamps for his last year of high school. Surrounded by a family who doesn't accept him, students who are horrified by him or praying on

his behalf, and constant physical threats, Billy decides to take it upon himself to shake up his private institution and make progress for the GLBTQ community.

The bright pink cover with the cross-dressing boy doll really grabs your attention. This book is definitely meant for the older teen sector; there is a fairly graphic part describing a group attack on Billy that leaves him nearly dead, as well as a fair amount of blue language scattered throughout. Billy himself is 100% over the top (swap queen and Carrie themed outfits, a homecoming float that is literally a 13 foot high purple platform shoe), but as someone who had a Billy of her own as a close friend through the high school years I find his voice to be very authentic of a serious teen queen. The book is able to explore the raw nature of bigotry but still be upbeat. Billy is a drag queen and the focus of the book is on how this community comes to terms with it, but the focus is not as much on gay relationships or sexuality. It's just one eccentric boy's coming of age story.

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LibraryThing member callmecayce

Yet another quick YA read, but this one was excellent. James' writing style is quite unique and takes some getting used to, and I'm not sure I ever did get used to it. But don't let that put you off the book. Freak Show is a brilliant near stream-of-consciousness book about, simply put, what it

means to be different. Obviously, it's more than just that. It's a brilliant examination of the horrors of high school, specifically one a young, cross dressing gay boy. He's truly adorable, someone I'd probably like to be friends with. While much of the book seems to be quite unrealistic, focusing on that aspect would completely miss the point. What matters is the interactions, the way Billy feels, beneath all the glamor he embraces. Freak Show is more than just a coming of age story, it's a story to all of us who were picked on in high school and what it means when we fight back (even if we never had the courage to).

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LibraryThing member SlayBelle

I loved this. Once I saw a YA novel by James-freaking-St. James proudly on display at the library, I knew I had to grab it. Hysterically, laugh out loud funny -- totally worth a soak in the tub and box full of chocolates read.

LibraryThing member salisb27

A book about a boy's journey to self-discovery through personal and social ridicule. Trying to fit in, the main character knows the importance of remaining himself and certainly does with individualistic and innovative vigor.

LibraryThing member Knicke

Pretty much a wish-fulfillment fable, and ridiculously heavy on the stereotyping, but fun nonetheless. I just wish it had tried to be either fabulous frippery or social commentary; it tries to be both, which doesn't quite work. On the other hand, I don't know of any other YA books about teenage

drag queens, so I'm glad this is out there. Though I really hope someone else tackles transgender issues in a more realistic way for this audience, and SOON.

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LibraryThing member SPLReference

My favorite book of 2007 is Freak Show. It's like nothing I've read before. Billy Bloom is gay, but it’s mostly theoretical, as he hasn’t had much experience. When he has to move to Florida, he can’t believe his bad luck. His new school is a mix of Bible Belles, Aberzombies, and Football

Heroes, none of whom are exactly his type. Billy’s efforts to fit in and stand out at the same time are both hilarious and heartrending. He is flamboyant..out there. Readers are in for a wild ride as Billy’s story of bravado, pain, and unexpected love is revealed. Funny and heartbreaking at the same time.

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LibraryThing member EdGoldberg

Great book. Laugh out loud funny.

LibraryThing member satyridae

I liked the story but I think I had to work too hard for it.
The main character is sympathetic and believably over-the-top. The writing is spotty- it does a great job of conveying Billy's personality and motivation but somehow meanders and leaves gaps. Billy spends a fair amount of time in tight

places (literally) and that particular behaviour is never explicated to my satisfaction- yeah, I get it as a symbol, but it's as awkward as an adolescent drag q....oh, right. Nevermind.

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LibraryThing member JWarren42

I get what St. James is doing here, and it's a very cool idea. The problem is with me as a reader--I prefer my narrators to be more serious-minded. Some very interesting things happen in this book, but the problem is that I just couldn't deal with the narrator's point of view on them. I like the

sort-of "burst of thought" technique for the narration, and the attempt to create a different type of LGBTQ narrator is a valid one. I personally just didn't connect with the narrator at all.

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LibraryThing member pussreboots

Freak Show by James St. James is about a gay teenager with a unique fashion sense, being relocated from a liberal eastern seaboard school to a hyper-conservative prep-school in Florida.

Billy Bloom, the protagonist, narrates in a first person, stream of consciousness that's similar to many a tween

or YA book featuring a young woman looking for first love and greater freedom from her over protective or overly weird parents.

Bill though, being (or trying to be) as out and proud as as he is, where he is, runs the threat of personal harm that usually doesn't appear in the female heterosexual YA books (even though that danger does exist in real life). Of the ones I've read, Behaving Like Adults by Anna Maxted, albeit an adult book, comes closet to being an equivalent.

That said, I found the tone somewhat jarring. It never really settled on either being a comedy or a drama. Nor did it balance the two swings of the pendulum to be a dramady.

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LibraryThing member BookConcierge

Billy Bloom is a gay teenager who has recently moved to Florida. It’s bad enough being the new kid at school when you are a senior, but being an emerging drag queen at an ultra-rich, ultra-conservative school is even more challenging. Billy tries to make friends but the teasing, taunting and

bullying he has to endure get out of hand quickly. Deciding that he has to be himself and speak up (and out loud) for all those other “shadow kids” trying to get along by not being noticed, Billy makes a momentous decision – he’s going to run for Homecoming Queen!

There is a nugget of a great story here. Billy’s situation is shared by many teens, who struggle with being themselves and also fitting in (or at least not being bullied, harassed, beaten up). His efforts are sometimes hilariously funny, sometimes incredibly touching, and sometimes so very inappropriate that they took me completely aback. I found myself alternately cheering for Billy and cringing at his antics. He was so over-the-top and the other students such caricatures that the important message here was somewhat lost in the glitter and drama.

The writing is, frankly, not very good. I nearly gave up after just a couple of pages because I am way past the teenage years and not very interested in wallowing in teen angst and self-absorption. But it’s a very fast read, and I flew through it. The young adult audience will probably enjoy it more.

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LibraryThing member Salsabrarian

The GAYEST novel in the GLBT YA genre I've ever read! Over-the-top, exuberant, wa-a-ay-out-there. But sad and optimistic, too. Oh, and the author has appeared on America's Next Top Model. Fabulous!!!!!!!

Billy is a gay drag queen attending a conservative prep school and living with his dad in

Florida after being kicked out of his mother’s house in Connecticut (when she caught him wearing her Ungaro dress). Billy is beyond over the top for his classmates. His biology teacher looks the other way when he is teased and abused by classmates. The abuse culminates in a brutal beating in class that lands Billy in the hospital. Miraculously, popular jock Flip Kelly stops the beating and later regularly visits Billy in the hospital and at his house. When a spontaneous, intimate moment between Billy and Flip ends badly, Billy decides to reemerge as a new, stronger person: Superfreak. He campaigns for homecoming queen on the platform that everyone is a freak in his or her own way. Not the book for everyone but the just the right book for someone!

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LibraryThing member GRPrideCenter

Having faced teasing that turned into a brutal attack, Christianity expressed as persecution, and the loss of his only real friend when he could no longer keep his crush under wraps, seventeen-year-old Billy Bloom, a drag queen, decides the only way to become fabulous again is to run for Homecoming

Queen at his elite, private school near Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

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LibraryThing member chechenthriller

Freakin' good.

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