Better Nate than Ever--"There's cupcake places, like, everywhere, and boys can dance next to each other"

Title: Better Nate than Ever

Author: Tim Federle


What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Thirteen-year-old Nate Foster, tired of the misery of Lankburg, PA, comes up with a plan: he is going to take the bus to New York City, audition for E.T.: the Musical, and become the Broadway star he knows he's meant to be.  With the help of his best friend (the fabulous Libby Jones), Nate borrows his mom's ATM card, loads his backpack with doughnuts and an ancient Nokia cell phone, and bravely forays to NYC.


What I think: I LOVE NATE, and I think I can speak for every mother, teacher, and theatre director when I say that.  Nate is adorable and naive, but incredibly brave!  I know I don't have that kind of bravery now, let alone when I was in eighth grade.  Way to go, Nate!

I loved Nate's voice and discovering NYC through his eyes. The description of stage mothers and  children with their "peppermint-Orbit-white-nightmare" teeth is extremely familiar to just about anyone who's ever participated in community theatre (very much to me.  I remember feeling so intimidated by those kids that I didn't audition for any other community theater shows until I was in middle school).

At first, I was a bit uncomfortable with the description of Nate's audition with the "big-time" Broadway people--they regarded him with amusement, much the way I feel when I'm watching the super untalented singers auditioning for American Idol:  I sometimes laugh, but I feel very uncomfortable; these people are clearly out of their league, but they did have the courage to put themselves out there . . . so should they be made fun of?

The answer is NO; this is a terrible thing to do to someone, even if they signed a release agreeing to it.  QUIT GLORIFYING BULLYING.

But, even though they are rather snobby theatre people at first, Nate's sheer determination, nerve, and likability leads to [spoilers deleted].


Nate's frank description of his parents only liking Nate's older brother, the bullying Nate receives at school makes me sad (he accepts it as an inevitable part of his life), but it is heartwarming when Nate observes:

And this one guy I'm looking at, who's modeling an underbite just like mine, and a little earring?  He's smiling such a goofy smile that I'm afraid he's asking for it. That someone's going to snap, and punch him.  And just when I gasp, when I see a black guy with big puffy hair coming at him, the security guard hangs up and kicks the door closed. 

And just before it clicks shut, and I run to it, unaware where I am for a moment, like I'm watching a movie? The two boys kiss. 

And nobody punches them (Federle 193).

Nate has such a good heart.  All my motherly, teacherly, and theatre-directorly (totally a word) instincts want to take Nate under my wing and help him discover his potential: teach him some theatrical skills, work with him on acting and blocking, buy him some clothes, and accompany him to auditions.  This kid has POTENTIAL.  Also, his family kind of sucks.  His self-esteem needs to be increased ASAP.

I can totally relate to Nate's nervousness about auditioning--I am in a play onstage for the first time in TWENTY years.  Shameless plug for Shared Radiance's Production of As You Like It coming soon!

Nate and Libby's friendship reminds me of a friendship I had in high school (with a guy named Nate!).  I loved how they used Broadway flops in place of curse words.

Fun Fact: I had a copy of Stephen King's Carrie advertising the Broadway musical and was delighted to see it among the curse words.


Parents in YA Literature:  Nate's Aunt Heidi, who is estranged from Nate's mother, plays an essential role in the plot. Nate learns that grownups sometimes are flawed and that his mother does love him (although I maintain that she is a loser parent--which there are a lot of in YA literature.  Some of this is necessary for plot purposes, but it still enrages me when parents do not support their children, even if they are fictional parents and fictional children.

I looked through the books I have read and reviewed so far and figured out what kind of parents each book had (if the book had both good and bad parents, or both dead and bad parents, I simply gave the book a vote in each category).

RESULTS:

44% contain good, supportive parents
49% contain bad, unsupportive parents
28% contain dead or missing parents

Some parents are especially memorable to me, either for being awesome or terrible.  My lists look pretty balanced, until you consider the upcoming reviews.

Notably AWESOME parent(s):  

• Simon's parents
• Aristotle and Dante's parents
• Jazz's parents
• Nelson's mom (in the Rainbow Boys trilogy)
• Rafe's parents (in Openly Straight and Honestly, Ben)
• Molly and Cassie's parents
• Tiny's parents
• Augie's parents
• Beck's and Jax's parents

Memorably TERRIBLE parents:

• Nate's parents
• Jason's parents
• Ben's dad
• Grayson's aunt (not technically a parent, but still)
• Sebastian's parents
• Alex Cooper's parents
• Another Alex's parents
• The Lightwoods (yes, they *kind of* redeem themselves, but they are horrible enough to deserve this dishonor)
    

Forthcoming Terribles:

• Evan's parents 
• Pen's parents
• Aisha's dad
• Cameron's aunt 

What do you think?  Any of them need to be added or deleted from the lists?


Better Nate than Ever is on the 2014 Rainbow Book List.


My final takeaway (in 75 words or fewer): Read it!

This book is adorable and I can't wait to read the sequel, Five, Six, Seven, Nate!--I just found out Nate Expectations is coming out on September 18. SQUEE!!!

I love Nate, and I am rooting for him 100%.  Also, this is middle grades book, an age-group that desperately needs more LGBTQ+ books.


Memorable quotes/passages from the book: 
     

• "My sexuality, by the way, is off-topic and unrelated.  I am undecided.  I am a freshman at the College of Sexuality and I have undecided my major, and frankly don't want to declare anything other than 'Hey jerks, I'm thirteen, leave me alone. Macaroni and cheese is still my favorite food--how would I know who I want to hook up with?'" (pg. 27, hardback edition).
     
• "One of the moms barks to her son, a boy whose hair is parted so aggressively, I could probably see his thoughts if I stared into it hard enough.  He bares his gums, revealing perfect, peppermint-Orbit-white nightmares and his mom licks her thumbs and smooths back his eyebrows" (pg. 49).
     
• "'But you're right, Nathan.  Even when you live in Astoria, there's nothing like New York.'
  'I know!' I say.  'There's cupcake places, like, everywhere, and boys can dance next to each other.'  But I don't actually say the part after the cupcake part" (pg. 204).
     
• "Parents of one good kid who gets a lot of things wrong, most of the time, back home, but might be getting everything right here.  A kid who might have found someplace where he doesn't have to change anything about himself to fit in.  A kid going as himself for Halloween, but, the best version, the ultimate.  A better Nate than ever (pgs. 242-243)."

Other reviews:  The Book Smugglers and Huffpost Queer Voices


This book is available in the Greensboro Public Library.