Pride or Die

February 1, 2025
Eleanora Finkel has only one goal for her senior year at Hillview High: save the LGBTQ+ Club. Unfortunately, the attempted murder of head cheerleader and supreme bully Kenley Stevens completely derails Eleanora's plans. When the four diverse members of the LGBTQ+ Club--Eleanora, Tyler Fuentes, Salim Ali, and Noah King--discover Kenley, lying bloody and unconscious in a hallway, their bigoted principal is all too happy to ban the tiny club and put the students on academic probation. With all eyes on Eleanora and her fellow queers as the main suspects, it's up to the club members to solve the mystery on their own--regardless of the danger. This dark and comedic mystery by debut author Montblanc deftly explores the gray areas between right and wrong, successfully addressing the complexity of people's characters. However, readers will wish for more detailed backstories for and a deeper focus on the four leads, and most of the adults display a staggering ineptitude that's frequently used as a convenient plot device. These elements may at times take readers out of the story, but the fast-paced plot and delicious mystery more than carry the narrative. A delicate queer romance that slowly blossoms throughout the story is the icing on the cake. A solid and overall engaging queer not-so-murder mystery with a touch of humor and a splash of romance.(Mystery. 14-18)

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March 1, 2025
Grades 8-12 Whatever affinity the four members of Hillview High's LGBTQ+ club might have for the phrase "be gay, do crime," it absolutely does not extend to attempted murder. However, out-and-proud Eleanora Finkel faces an uphill battle trying to convince her homophobic principal that the club had nothing to do with the attack that hospitalized a cheerleader. As Eleanora leads the club in an attempt to clear their names, it becomes clear that the all-queer cast is not just investigating the crime out of a teenage sense of adventure; rather, in their small Texas town, there is a dearth of authority figures who put civic duty over silent bigotry. Every character is, however, treated with empathy--even the principal has positive causes he believes in, and even Eleanora has to correct a racist misstep. In addition to modeling accountability reasonably and well, the teen characters are delightfully authentic down to the way they each message their group chat. The mystery is at times lacking, but the joyful queer chaos is present and accounted for throughout.

COPYRIGHT(2025) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 28, 2025

Gr 10 Up-Eleanora Finkel, aka Fink, founded her school's LGBTQIA+ club and is determined to keep it alive, total membership of four notwithstanding. An incident with obnoxious cheerleader Kenley Stevens led to the misnomer BLT Club; despite the behavior of bullies, though, the group serves an important role. When Fink, along with football jock Salim Ali; brash, trans Noah King; and nonbinary overachiever Tyler Fuentes are discovered in the hall with the bleeding and unconscious body of their nemesis, the principal wastes no time trying to disband the club and to blame them for the attack. As evidence mounts that there may be more violence on the horizon, the righteously angry club members have to set aside their differences and work with the one person they would like to avoid before anyone else gets hurt. A murder mystery without the murder, this debut hits all the right notes of the genre without being too formulaic. Witty, strongly characterized teens speak clearly (with strong language) about the forces they're up against, with steadily developing action and believable red herrings. VERDICT A swift and suspenseful mystery full of righteous anger, comedic cynicism, and queer joy in spite of small-minded attempts to suppress it.-Allie Stevens

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