SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Politics in Practice
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About TLT
  • Reviews
    • Book Reviews
    • A to Z Book Lists
    • Book Review Policy
  • Teen Issues
  • Middle Grade Mondays
  • Programs
    • TPiB
    • Tech Talk
  • Professional
    • Teen Services 101
    • Things We Didn’t Learn in Library School
  • MakerSpace
  • Projects
    • #SVYALit
    • #FSYALit
    • #MHYALit
    • #Poverty in YA Lit

October 15, 2019 by Amanda MacGregor

Book Review: Orpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry

October 15, 2019 by Amanda MacGregor   1 comments

When I’m reviewing books for professional publications, I stay quiet about them on social media. I’m always really excited once a review comes out to be able to talk about the book, finally! Here’s one of my most recent reviews, which originally appeared in an issue of School Library Journal. 

Gr 9 Up—Two lesbians in rural Texas suffer physical and psychological torture in this reimagining of the Orpheus legend. Raised in a conservative small town where gossip becomes myth, Raya has never felt like the other girls. She keeps her real self hidden, knowing that gay kids in her town disappear and become cautionary tales. When Raya and her best friend Sarah, a preacher’s daughter, are caught in bed together, they are sent to Friendly Saviors conversion camp to”get fixed.” Like Orpheus, Raya is determined to save the girl she loves, even if that means going through hell. But her resolve to escape quickly turns to resignation as she undergoes a brutal regime of labor, prayer, exercise, and, eventually, electric shock treatments. The so-called therapies at Friendly Saviors are staggeringly painful to endure and to read about. Horrific, graphic scenes of electroshock treatment as well as homophobic slurs, transphobia, suicide, and more may be triggering for some readers. Deeply emotional, this devastating story is lyrical and haunting, though repetition and heavy-handed reminders of the Orpheus story distract from the power and immediacy of Raya’s narrative. Underdeveloped secondary characters align with other mythological figures but do little to move the story along. This unremittingly bleak depiction of what it means to be anything other than cisgender and heterosexual is heartbreaking; isolated Raya has no examples of queer happiness or survival. 

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

VERDICT A secondary purchase for libraries with large LGBTQIA+ YA collections that also offer more nuanced and positive looks at what it means to be gay.

ISBN-13: 9781641290746
Publisher: Soho Press, Incorporated
Publication date: 10/08/2019

Filed under: Book Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
Book reviewsConversion TherapyF/FLGBTQIA+School Library Journal

About Amanda MacGregor

Amanda MacGregor works in an elementary library, loves dogs, and can be found on Twitter @CiteSomething.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

How MEXIKID Was Made, with Pedro Martín

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

31 Days, 31 Lists: 2023 Picture Book Reprints

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Science Comics: Frogs | Review

by Johanna

Heavy Medal

The Narrow-It-Down Poll: Help us finalize our Heavy Medal Book List

by Steven Engelfried

Politics in Practice

November 2023 Election Hot Take: It was a good night for libraries, a bad night for censorship

by Peter Bromberg

The Yarn

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

13 Hi-Lo Titles, Including Speculative Fiction, Horror, Sports, and Graphic Novels

All the Swoons: 32 YA Novels for Romance Awareness Month

10 Shonen Manga Must-Reads | Mondo Manga

A Peek at the SLJTeen Live! Books

15 Titles to Help Students and Families With College Prep

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ash says

    October 15, 2019 at 10:39 am

    So basically what it was really like for those of us growing up gay int he nineties when our parents believed in conversion therapy, and were isolated enough in a christian community that we did not know nay out gay people. It’s real.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Politics in Practice
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • Refreshing the Canon Booklist
  • Read Free Poster
  • 2023 Youth Media Awards
  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023