Do you ever wish you could just go back to high school?
No. The answer from me will always be no. I don't miss high school and going back is fodder for my nightmares. And my high school experience wasn't even that bad. YAs are written for those people who are about to/currently/just finished experiencing the ups and downs of high school life, as a result, anytime I read a YA I get ready to relive those days and also thank god they're over! More than most YAs, The (Un)popular Vote by Jasper Sanchez really hit some chords with me as it made me relive the worst week of my high school experience: when I ran for class president.... More on that later...
SUMMARY
This FABULOUS YA tells the story of a Grade 12 student named Mark who moved with his mother to a small town in California where it would be safe for him to transition. Mark's dad, the aspiring Governor of California, is slightly less in the picture, mainly because he believes that Mark is going through a phase and deadnames him during their weekly phone calls. Mark is completely out to two of his friends who knew him before he transitioned, and is somewhat out as pansexual with some of his classmates, but for the most part, he passes as a cisgender straight male. His close group of friends are all queer and endeavour to support and create safe spaces together at their school, but when Mark witness a fight between his gay friend and some of the football jocks, he starts to see that the school is not as safe (or accepting) as he thought it was. He knows that change is necessary and quickly determines that the only way to create that change is for him to become student body president.
Over the course of about two weeks, the novel shares the campaign trail, the school gossip column, some hints of romance, the difficult situation between Mark and his father, the results of the election and where Mark plans to go from there. Some of the issues Sanchez tackles include: transphobia, so called "zero tolerance" bullying policies, coming out, gender norms and stereotypes, several other issues LGBTQ+ people may experience in and out of school. He also explores the idea that adults often say things along the lines of "just wait until you go to college, just wait until you're older" as a way to placate an adolescent's attempts to provoke change. Throughout the story he comes back to it multiple times as Mark comes to the realization that change needs to be made, you can't wait until something is different for you but the place you left stays the same. Mark learns a lot about what it means to be true and honest to yourself and the ones you care about, and also sees different sides of the political life he grew up observing. The main morals of the story surrounding standing up for what you believe in, taking care of your friends and being aware of the fact that the choices you make impact those around you, negatively and positively, whether you want them to or not.
REVIEW
Ok well first, this book is so well written. I have no clue about literally anything pertaining to American politics (I almost missed a pretty obvious reference to the donkey and elephant party symbols) and this book is a tiny bit heavy on the American politics front, but I think this is actually super important. Young people (especially lots of members of the Gen Z) are passionate about a lot of things and getting ready to vote is so crucial. Some millennials may have been eligible to vote for Obama (I was in grade 11), but many were not, my cohort were old enough to vote for Trump though, so let's hope the new Gen Z voters can help the future of American politics.... Anyway, if you absolutely despise politics maybe this isn't the best book for you, but otherwise it is definitely worth reading and I have to say I learned a fair bit! The LGBTQ+ issues and messages were so great. I love that there were so many LGBTQ+ characters and each of them were different, demonstrating the range (and the need for the +) and reminding us that we need to see them because they are there. I don't really remember anyone being out when I was in high school but I also may not have been very aware... so including so many characters in this story helps readers see that they should question the "token gay" in media interpretations of high school life. It hits all my boxes for a good YA: some love interest storyline, limited sex (almost none in this one though there is a bit of talk about genitals), cliques and gossip, some kids vs adults tension, and just the right amount of drama. I would 100% recommend this book to teens and young adults who are looking for more LGBTQ+ and diverse populations represented in their reading choices!
ALL THE QUOTES
The Unpopular Vote reaffirms my previous statement that YA books seem to have some of the most memorable, moving and quotable writing. I haven't researched this but I feel like it is master thesis quality inquiry right there. Why do YA authors have such brilliant literary skills? Is this a requirement to be an amazing YA writer? If so, why??? Maybe YA readers expect more poetic social justice from their authors? Anyway, I've got some good quotes to discuss from this one.
Like, how can someone make struggle sound so beautiful?! *sigh* why I love YAs.
Early on in the story, Benji, Mark's sophomore friend, reveals he's been bullied repeatedly for his sexuality and gender expression. Mark and his friends discuss this new revelation and Mark questions why Benji never told him. Mark's friends explain that Benji is different, in that he's younger, he doesn't pass as cisgender or straight and he's not in a tight-knit group of friends the way that they are.
"Just because Benji has the audacity to break a few ironclad male gender stereotypes. Difference adheres to his skin like flypaper. It makes him vulnerable, and we should have known. We should have asked. Should have watched out for him. Should have done anything other than pretend scenic wine-country vistas and white picket fences meant we were safe." (Sanchez, p. 49)
It's this reflection that leads Mark to realize that there is more that can be done to prevent students, especially LGBTQ+ students, from feeling unsafe at his school, an issue he was blind to until this point.
"Maybe the president is just a figurehead, but at least they have a voice, even if it's just on the PA for morning announcements. And that's something. Because someone needs to speak out against the school's victim-blaming policies, and it should always be the victims themselves. Especially when they're punished for even trying. The rest of us need to do more." (Sanchez, p. 61)
I really like this quote because it reminds us of the role of allies. We often expect too much of diverse people in our institutions. Organizations set mandates of numbers of diverse employees need to be hired, and then expect them to carry the burden of creating safe and comfortable work environments. This reminds me of a children's book I read not too long ago called Allie the Albino Squirrel by E.K. McCoy.
I mentioned in my review that I loved that it was a white squirrel who was experiencing fears of exclusion and discrimination because of the heavy load we place on IBPOC people to fill this role in all aspects of their lives, even in children's books. I was just guessing that this was purposeful, but the author left this comment on my review:
Thank you for the wonderful review Angie. I'm happy to see a reviewer mention Allie being a chance to talk about diversity without placing the weight again on BIPOC children. Maybe that was one of the authors main goals.. ;) Take care and Happy Reading!
Here's the link to my review on goodreads incase you're interested in learning more. But yes, Sanchez, the rest of us do need to do more. Which brings me to the next quote, a call to action for teachers (in my opinion):
"This is the same scholastic ecosystem that accidentally enrolled Pablo in ESL in kindergarten because we was speech delayed, and they just assumed. That demanded a doctor note in order for Nadia to be excused from strenuous activities in PE during Ramadan. That told Rachel maybe she just doesn't have what it takes to be a doctor, before her ADHD was diagnosed. This system doesn't want to make space, and no one who benefits from it wants to cede theirs. The only way to change the system is to stand up and claim your own." (Sanchez, p. 75)
Sanchez is 100% correct, our school system is flawed. There are so many problems and it really shouldn't be up to the students to identify these flaws and have to fight them, we shouldn't be assuming a child is an English as an Additional Language Learner because of their ethnicity, we should be automatically aware of and planning for Ramadan, we should be supporting students to meet their highest aspirations even if they are presenting with symptoms of a disability or (especially) if they are diagnosed with one. And those lines at the end there about creating a space are so interesting. I think this quote could apply to any situation, not just the school system. This idea that you need to take up space in order to create change. Like maybe a space on the podium. Mark's mom further's this idea when she shares this quote:
"There's a difference between being an activist and being an organizer... Real change happens when regular people come together to fight for it. Your job ... is to empower them to do just that. Don't just speak for them; give them the space they need to speak for themselves." (Sanchez, p. 289).
I like this differentiation between activist and organizer, it's one thing to go out there and say what you want to change, but it's a completely different thing to actually gather the people and help make that change. Passive vs. active (funny that activist isn't always the most active role...)
This one relates a bit more personally to me:
"I shouldn't have lied. I didn't mean to. I've never been good at talking around him, so usually I restrict myself to euphemisms." (Sanchez, p 389).
In the story, Mark's love interest, Ralph shared that he lost his father to cancer 4 years ago and is still grieving. In an attempt to explain the situation with his father without giving away too many details, Mark uses the euphemism "gone" to describe his dad and Ralph mistakenly assumes that Mark's father has also passed away. Mark struggles to correct him, (in fact Mark often seems to struggle when he freezes up and doesn't know what to say so he just doesn't) and so he has to later come to terms with how he inadvertently misled someone he cares about. To be fair to Mark, his dad is refusing to see him for who he is and is threatening to cut all ties with him so saying he's "gone" is definitely not wrong but when you've lost a parent it can be hard to hear someone choosing to cut ties with a family member.
I can relate to this difficulty talking around someone. Like Ralph, my mom passed away when I was still fairly young and I still find it really hard to participate in conversations that involve her. My mom was sick for most of my childhood and adolescent years and there was definitely a culture of secrets in my family, much like Mark's. Whether they meant to or not, my parents taught me that it was better to hide the problems so that no one could figure out what was going on and try to get involved. This became a thread throughout my life; don't tell anyone my mom is sick, don't tell anyone my mom is in the hospital, don't tell anyone my mom died. It got really hard when she passed away because work, school, friends, everyone suddenly knew that my mom had been sick and now I had no mom. I had no secrets to hide behind. And it was terrifying, but also kind of nice, like when Mark finally does share what's going on in his family. But then time passed, I was in the Education Faculty, I changed jobs, old friends drifted out and new friends drifted in, now no one really knew about my mom and it was still hard to talk about so I used the tactic I had the most experience with:
Deflect: "What are you doing for mother's day?" "Oh you know, not much planned, we might see David's parents, what are you doing for your mom?"
Avoid/talk around: "I'm going to see my mom's side of the family, she grew up in the Neepawa area so we go out and visit family every summer!" No one needs to know she's not going to be there with us...
Change the subject: "Why didn't you live at home in university?" "Oh with my parents' divorce it was just easier... anyway, what were you saying about your first house?"
Avoiding and hiding may have worked for 30 years, but I'm working towards not hiding so much anymore. Hence telling my life story slowwwwllllyy on this blog. And also, I'm getting married in 362 days.... and I feel like all of my friends will notice that this mom I avoid describing is not there... So let's see if I can start being a little less secretive. If Mark, a 17 year old trans child of a governor can be open about all his secrets, and adult white female teacher who lost her mom ten years ago can tell her close friends her mom passed away... right?
OH HIGH SCHOOL POLITICS!
Ok so I started this post out by saying that I do not want to go back to high school and if I did have to go back, the very last choice of time portal hopping options I would choose would be the week (ish) I ran for President. If you promise me you'll go check out The Unpopular Vote I will give you just a taste of some of the drama around my own presidential campaign.
So I had been on Student Council all through junior high and high school. My superlative was "most school spirit". I ran the dress up days, I posted to the school news broadcast thing, I did the announcements, I tallied the scores at the grade wars! I put in my dues and I was ready to run student council. There were three other people in my grade on student council when I was in Grade 11, let's call them B, L and T (like the sandwich). I knew B was going to run for president, but I was unaware of how popular he actually was. I was not unpopular, but I was definitely like Mark and his friends: a bit of an overachiever, friends with people who were in classes and clubs with me, not an outcast but also not a cheerleader. L was a friend of mine and I would have been fine if she won. T and I had been in school together since Kindergarten, she was a friend, she was dedicated to student council, I would say she was more popular than I was but not by a crazy amount. Essentially, I thought it was possible for me to beat all three of them, but I also would have been ok if they won. So I went into this race ready to win. My friends came over for poster parties, we tyedyed shirts and did lots of strategic planning, then everything fell apart for three reasons.
1) I vastly under estimated B's popularity. It turns out, he had a lot of friends. And they were very popular. Maybe not such a fair playing field after all
2) (Probably knowing about point 1 and knowing she couldn't beat him) T went to the student council teachers and asked fairly last minute to add a new category of vice president on the ballot. Until that point, you couldn't run for VP, it was given to the person with the second highest number of votes. She asked to run for VP and they said yes without talking to the student council (wtf ladies), so essentially she ran unopposed.
3) Facebook was new and cyber bullying moved from MSN to somewhere so much more public. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The student council teachers (who made not great choices half the time) emphasized to everyone who was running for President that they had to have a clean campaign, especially on social media. They said that we could have groups or pages or events or whatever FB called it back then but we could not say mean things and that they could see what we posted. They also said that you couldn't run for president if you had not served on student council in the past three years (ie. weed out the popularity contest candidates). Well, one person decided he was going to ignore these two rules and decided to run for president, let's call him K and we'll call his campaign manager D. K started the week campaigning and the teachers said no, you can't run. So then D created a facebook page devoted to how K was going to specifically target me in his (unsanctioned) campaign. I believe the words were he would "crush" me. Anyway, I get called to the office during my second last period of the day the second or so day of the campaign, and find out that D has been suspended because of what he said about me on K's facebook page. I protested that suspension was probably not a great idea because they were going to blame me. The principal said no, no, no one would blame me. If there were any repercussions I should come to them right away. *insert angsty teenage eyeroll*
Problems with this:
- they had no idea what kind of cyber bullying comments cropped up on my profile that night
- they suspended him for the days leading up to but not including the election day so he was there with his buddies to see my get defeated.
- everyone decided that me getting called down to the office was clear evidence that I had ratted him out even though he had been suspended before I got called to the office... guilty until proven innocent which never happens in high school.
- since they were afraid of publicly bullying me by writing things on a random facebook page for a non candidate, they instead defaced all of my posters and also taunted my friends. Thus leading to them stopping wearing my awesome tye dyed shirts and taking down their locker posters. By the end of the week my supporters were in hiding.
And so, I got to spend a year doing the job of "communications chair" basically what I had been doing all along as well as making sure the president and vp got all their shit done too, and avoiding D, K and their friends as much as humanly possible. So there you have it. High school politics at it's finest. But thankfully I wont be heading back to high school anytime soon, except maybe in YAs and my nightmares lol!