It is when you are living in dark times like these that you need art that can give you meaning and hope. This is why I will use this opportunity to tell you about two books that have given me a psychological and spiritual injection of compassion and optimism.
TJ Klune
Travis John Klune (or TJ Klune as he is known) has written several romantic fantasy novels.
He is a gay and neurodiverse author who has some really profound insights into why some people become bigots who do everything in their power to control others. But he is also very good at describing how diversity and allowing people to be themselves can lead to personal growth and happiness.
The House in the Cerulean Sea, and the follow up Somewhere Beyond the Sea, are clearly targeting a young adult audience, but – believe me – the books have something for everyone, including a kind of humor those who have lived for some time will appreciate.
The House in the Cerulean Sea presents Linus Baker, a caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He is the perfect by the book bureaucrat.
He is often sent to orphanages for magical children to report on them, and even though he feels compassion for the kids, he does not really see how the system uses these orphanages to keep the magical children away from society at large.
These children do not fit the standards of normalcy in this society and is therefore seen as a threat to many. A slogan seen on many walls is "See Something. Say Something!". In other words: safety is secured through surveillance.
The emotional lock-ins of bigots
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| TJ KLune (Library of Congress Life) |
Klune's humorous presentation of the ministry and Linus' alienated life is alone worth the read. But under the comedy you will find a brilliant analysis of what makes some people afraid of those who are different, and how a strict rule and regulation-based system stops people from finding out who they truly are and what they were born to do in this world.
Here's a relevant quote:
“I won’t lie to you. The road ahead will not be smooth. No matter what I—we say, there will always be those who refuse to accept the truth. They surround themselves with like-minded people, and it creates an echo chamber that’s nigh on impossible to escape. A feedback loop that never ends.”
The cleansing force of childhood creativity
The magical children are obviously meant to represent the queer and neurodiverse kids in our world, although none of them are explicitly presented as LGBTQ. It is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Linus is gay, though.
Linus is sent on a secret assignment by the Extremely Upper Management of the ministry to evaluate an orphanage on a secluded island, home to six extraordinary children, including a gnome, a wyvern, a blob and the seven year old Antichrist (a young boy named Lucy). There is also the resident island sprite, Zoe, who comes to play a very important role in book 2.
This orphanage is led by the enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, and it is Arthur who, by the way he treats the kids and others, opens Linus up to a completely different way of being, a way that allows kids to be themselves, explore themselves and love themselves in creative ways that bring growth and happiness to everyone on the island (and beyond).
Dedicated to transgender people
In a text added to Somewhere Beyond the Sea Klune reveals that the books have been influenced by JK Rowling, although not in the way you may think (as in one fantasy writer inspiring another). No, volume two is explicitly an anti-JK Rowling book, and the book is dedicated to transgender people everywhere.
Here's what Klune says about this:
"I do want to be remembered as something, and it's very specific: not the Antichrist, but the Anti-J.K. Rowling. I want to be her antithesis, her opposite. I want my stories to fly in the face of everything she believes in. At the end of the day, she has no idea who I am, and that's okay. I'll still be here, chugging away, making sure queer stories are told. And I won't be doing it alone. There are so many queer authors writing stories that matter, important stories that show all the different facets of our lives.
To make it unequivocal: J.K. Rowling's beliefs on trans people are abhorrent and have no place in a modern society. People like her—people who believe trans people are somehow lesser-deserve to be shunned until they disappear into the ether. As Arthur says in the novel, 'Hate is loud.' He's right. People tend to love quietly and hate loudly. But here's the thing: I don't do anything quietly. I'm a loud motherfucker, and I will continue to be, especially when my community is under attack.
To my trans readers: this book is dedicated to you. Without you, there would be no us. You are vital, beautiful, and you deserve everything good in this world. There are so many more of us than there are of them. Yes, they're loud and it can feel like their hate is all we see and hear. And yet, I constantly think about the twelve-year-old boy I met at a small school in West Virginia. After speaking to a group of kids, this boy came up to me and said, "I know all about the gay stuff."
Bewildered, I replied, "What do mean?"
He said, "Last year, I had a girlfriend. He came out as trans, and now he's my boyfriend."
The House in the Cerulean Sea
Somewhere Beyond the Sea
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