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The Unforgettable Journey of Felix Ever After

 Felix Ever After by Kasen Callender

I chose to read Felix Ever After because it is honestly the first time I would read about a transgender protagonist. I thought the story would offer valuable insights into the transgender/queer/LGBTQ experience--and through the lens of a BIPOC. Callender did a great job with Felix's character and story.



Summary

Felix Love--yes, his last name is love--is a Black, queer, and transgender teenager in his senior year of high school. He is also a talented visual artist who is trying to beef up his portfolio to get into Brown University. He participates in a summer art program where he grapples with his identity, the idea of falling in love, and self-acceptance. The story's centerpiece is a love triangle Felix has as he navigates his own identity challenges with parents and social media bullying and prospects for his future after high school.

The relationship Felix has with his father is an interesting piece of the story because his dad is so loving and accepting–but he’s also still grappling with the idea that Felix was a girl up until his transition during his teens. Felix says to his father, during a heated dinner conversation early in the novel, “I’m not your daughter, and I never was.” The statement was so powerful in how Felix was able to declare his identity why also rejecting his father’s moment of denial.

  • Publication: 2020

  • Pages: 354

  • Genre: YA Romance

Notable Awards and Recognition

  • Stonewall Honor

  • Vanity Fair and Forbes Best Book, 2020

  • New York Public Library and Chicago Public Library Best Book, 2020

  • YALSA pick for best fiction for young adults, 2021

Classroom Considerations


As with any YAL featured in YA Shelf Talk, I think it's important for educators and parents to consider the sensitivity of the overarching theme in Felix Ever After: self-worth and acceptance. I'd recommend this novel be used students ages 14+ since transphobia and sexuality are included in the novel.


I also think that discussions among students about mature themes, like identity, self-love, and understanding the LGBTQ community need to be in safe spaces where culture and norms-building has already been done. These conversations can be more powerful and meaning when done in spaces where everyone feels like their voice matters.


Possible Read Aloud Excerpts


"'The straights say that we've got an agenda to turn people gay,' Marisol says, 'but then will try to force toddlers on each other and say it's so cute and they're destined to get married. Seriously.'

I understand what Austin means. Kind of like reading I Am I for the first time, and everything just clicking. I'd already gone through the whole questioning sexuality thing a few years before that. I'd have crushes on girls and guys before, but I never had a crush on both a girl and a guy at the same time. It was almost like a cycle. I'd be attracted to girls for a few months, then to guys for a few months, then back to girls again. And whenever I was in to a guy, looking back on it now, it's difficult to figure out if I was actually into him, if I just wanted to be him--or both. It was one of the most confusing times of my life. I thought, for some reason, that I had to figure out which I was more attracted to--either I was gay or I was straight. One day, a few weeks after meeting Ezra--right around when he started dating Declan--I told him that I felt like I was going crazy.

'I don't get it,' he said, eyebrows pinched together. 'Why do you have to choose?'"

~ From pages 80-81

                 "I rub the back of my neck. 'I mean...I don't want you to know who I am.'

                 'What does that have to do with it?'

                  Everything. The fact that I'm Black, the fact that I'm queer, the fact that I'm trans. 'It's like every identity I have...the more different I am from everyone else...the less interested people are. The less...lovable I feel, I guess..."

~ From page 219

                 "'I'm not flaunting anything. I'm just existing. This is me. I can't hide myself. I can't disappear. And even if I could, I don't fucking want to. I have the same right to be here. I have the same right to exist."

~ From page 321

Ideas for the classroom

There are so many opportunities for rich dialogue and discussion about identity, the LGBTQ community--empathy for marginalized populations--and self-love that could occur among students in either a partner/small-group setting or whole-class setting. Here are a few areas that teachers could focus on.

  • Exploring themes of self-love and identity. 
  • Exploring the ways Felix perseveres through many challenging obstacles throughout the novel. He grapples with his mother's neglect, his notions that he has never known love before, the conflicts between him and his father's acceptance, his own investigations into an online troll, his friendship with Ezra. How do these challenges shape Felix's journey of self-love and identity. How is his perseverance evident at the end of the novel? Perseverance is a character trait that many students need to continuously work to build. Felix Ever After can be a great springboard and inspiration to do so. 
  • Post-reading/summative assessment: Examine the title, Felix Ever After, and discuss its significance to the novel's themes. 
  • Some great discussion and/or journal prompt questions include: What role does Ezra play in Felix's journey towards self-acceptance? How does the novel portray the experiences of transgender individuals? How does Felix's experience with bullying and transphobia shape his perspective on himself and others?

Concluding Remarks

    Overall, I think Felix Ever After would be a great read for a small book club group or as a choice read for individual students in a class. There is great dialog between the characters as they analyze life and art and relationships. Felix, the protagonist, wrestles with a lot of things throughout the story; however, he stays true to himself and I think his story can be inspirational, too.

    Unfortunately, we are living in a time where transgenders are being marginalized even more so due to amplified political voices in the highest offices of power. Felix Ever After does what Penny Kittle mentions in her book, Book Love (Kittle, 2013, pg. 102) in that it has the capacity to build empathy among its readers. It made a huge impression on me, that's for sure.


References

Callender, K. (2021). Felix Ever After. Balzer + Bray, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers.

Kittle, P. (2013). Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.






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