The Comedienne’s Guide to Pride

Gr 9 Up–Taylor Parker lives in her mother’s bed and breakfast in Salem, MA. She’s a closeted lesbian, a closeted improv comic, and secretly pining hard for fellow senior, Charlotte, the girl who plays Abigail Williams in a local museum’s witch trial reenactments. She also hasn’t told anyone that she entered, and is now a finalist, for Saturday Night Live’s diversity internship, the opportunity of a lifetime. The major problem is that nobody knows that she’s “diverse,” and sending in her final submission means coming out to the world and everyone she knows. When her crush, Charlotte, has a project that brings them together for a budding teenage romance, Taylor also begins the journey to accepting all of who she is and letting the world see her shine as both a comic and a lesbian. A slow start means that readers have to stick through a first half heavy with exposition and references to old SNL skits and past cast members to get to a charming romance and heartwarming coming out journey. Taylor’s humor and witty one-liners make for many laugh-out-loud moments. Her romance with Charlotte also becomes surprisingly deep and intimate, both physically and emotionally. Taylor is a white, cis, lesbian. Jen, an inn guest and Taylor’s queer adult role model, is bisexual. Taylor’s best friend Brooke is Black.