It’s a beautifully written book that I found very moving and I can well understand why it’s on so many YA prize shortlists. As he hits his teenage years and realises that he’s gay, his confusion and alienation only grow and it isn’t until he reaches university and discovers the Drag Society that things start to make sense …ĭean Atta’s contemporary LGBTQ+ YA novel (sensitively illustrated by Anshika Khullar) is a sympathetic coming of age tale that’s beautifully told in verse and which is a touching reflection of the intersectionality issues of being bi-racial and gay in modern Britain and trying to find your own place and identity. From an early age, he knows that he’s not like the other kids he hangs around with but he doesn’t know who he is or where he fits in whether that’s at school, with his friends or with his family. Michael Angeli was born on 31st October 1999 to a Greek Cypriot mother and a Jamaican father who left shortly after Michael was born. I earn commission on any purchases made through these links. You can order THE BLACK FLAMINGO by Dean Atta from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or UK. There is power in embracing your uniqueness. At university, take a seat in the audience and watch him find his wings as a drag artist, The Black Flamingo.Ī bold story about discovering that only YOU get the privilege of choosing who you are. Travel from school to college, where he discovers his flock, and comes to terms with his identity as a mixed-race gay teen.

Join him as he enters the world with tiny feather eyelashes.

Der Schwarze Flamingo by Dean Atta