A Song for Nolan

Wearing a carefully chosen outfit (suspenders and a feather boa), brown-skinned, pink-haired Nolan, who is nonbinary, arrives at a friend’s skating-rink birthday party. Following an incident of misgendering, getting stuck on the rink during a binary “boys’ ” skate session interrupts Nolan’s carefree dance under the colorful lights, and leads to a tumble and feelings of distress (“DO I EVEN BELONG HERE?!”). But Nolan makes a request to the DJ that both saves the day and results in an invite for everyone to skate. Chen’s thin-lined, saturated artwork is an ideal partner to Ellenwood’s characterization in this uplifting tale about making room for oneself—and all. Background characters are portrayed with various abilities, body types, and skin tones. Ages 3–6. (June)