SHAMPOO UNICORN

Isolated teens with a podcast solve a mystery and heal themselves in this debut.

Canon, West Virginia, is a small town where the coal mines have shut down and football is a big deal. Brian isn’t the “only gay in the village,” but he certainly feels that way when closeted Greg, who used to be his best friend, passively witnesses constant homophobic bullying. Brian’s only outlet is Shampoo Unicorn, a chatty podcast he hosts with his now-bestie Riley, a straight biracial (Black and white) girl who stands out as a racial minority in town as well as in the largely white-centered queer storyline. Meanwhile, Leslie, a trans girl living about an hour away in rural Pennsylvania, is grafted onto the narrative as she finds the strength to come out to her parents, who surprise her with their support, and becomes inspired to organize Canon’s first ever Pride festival. The plot loosely coalesces around a hate crime committed against Greg after he’s expelled for a locker room hookup, the whodunit weakly propelling the story forward. Written with multiple points of view, including podcast transcripts, much of the story involves the characters explaining things to each other and to readers. However, the story does provide hope—and a possible roadmap—to teens who feel cut off from their communities and the world.

An earnest addition to the contemporary queer YA canon.