The title of the book I read is The Black Flamingo, written by Dean Atta. I chose to read this book because I thought I might be able to relate to a lot of different experiences that the main character goes through. Michael is the leading protagonist in this story. He's a multiracial teenager growing up in London. He's spent his entire life trying to figure out what it means to be Greek Cypriot and Jamaican, but never quite feeling Greek or Black enough. Michael's coming out is only the beginning of his discovering who he is and where he belongs as he grows older. When he discovers the Drag Society, he realizes he has finally found his place — and becomes the Black Flamingo.

One of my favorite lines in the book is: “And she says, ‘it’s okay.’ And I shout, ‘I know it is!’” This is the first point in the story where the main character, Michael, acknowledges that it is okay to be gay. He even seems to act like the very thought that it would not be okay, or the thought that he might think that it isn’t okay, is repulsive. This is also the first time in the story that he shouts at his mother, who is portrayed throughout the majority of the story as a comforting figure, including here. The fact that Michael yells at his mother, whom he loves more than anything, shows how important his identity is to him. The main conflict of the story is the main character coming to terms with who he is and facing the challenges that the outside world throws at him when he is fully himself. I think that by the end of the story, the main character will be able to love who he is, probably shown with something symbolic from before, like the pink Speedo, or the black flamingo from Greece.

There are both internal and external conflicts. Internally are the challenges that Michael poses to himself, and his difficulty to love and be who he is. Externally are the challenges that the world poses to Michael, and their difficulty to understand and accept who he is.

This story is told from the first-person point of view, in the form of poetry. This helps put less of an emphasis on what is happening in the story, and more of an emphasis on how it affects Michael’s emotions and who he is as a person. If it wasn’t told in the first-person point of view, then we wouldn’t be able to understand what the main character is going through, and if it wasn’t told through poetry, then there would be a much greater focus on the actions within the story. The character in the book that I feel is most realistic is the mom’s ex-boyfriend, Trevor.

They don’t portray him as a horrible, evil person, nor a terribly good one. Just a person who was there and then was not, and how that affected
everyone else.

The Black Flamingo is a phenomenally written piece of literature that almost transcends any other book you’d find in a school library. 

If I could write a letter to the Michael,

I’d say:

"Michael,

Be careful, or you’ll lose your best friend. You’re trying to be your best self, but you might lose her in the process. Try your best to stay with her, because if you leave her, that’s on you. Beside that, I’m sorry about the way Rowan treated you — that was such a jerk move. You handled it well. About your airplane dreams, I’m sure that if your mother were to die, or to leave, that your Uncle B or Daisy’s family would take you in. You don’t need to worry about that. Believe in yourself. Be you, unapologetically.

Forget Rowen. Forget Kieran. Move on, be you, find love, lose love, and live."