Jude Saves the World

Jude Saves the World provides the kind of queer representation that is desperately needed in the current political climate. Jude, a queer, nonbinary, bisexual 12-year-old is navigating life as best as they can. They are out to their mom and best friend, Dallas, have asked everyone at school to use their chosen name, and (at the request of their mom) have not come out to their grandparents whom they see every week. When Stevie, one of the girls in the “popular” clique, is unceremoniously dumped by her friends, Jude and Dallas step in to make her feel welcome as their friend.

While Jude and Dallas bring Stevie into their group, they consider what it means, as a pair of queer kids, to make a new friend, and how it affects their relationship. They are also all dealing with their own personal struggles: Jude’s mom doesn’t want them to come out to their grandparents, making the weekly dinner a weekly assault on Jude’s identity; Dallas’ parents fight all the time, and he feels helpless to truly protect his younger sister; Stevie is trying to find her old self again, having left behind hobbies and interests deemed too “uncool” by her (now former) friends. As the year goes on and the trio grow together, readers get to see an authentic representation of friendship and platonic love that is not often so centered in YA literature.

Jude Saves the World is a story of friendship, of bravery, and found family. It’s a story of queer joy and finding our place in the world. While characters do come out in this story and do experience feelings of exclusion and disconnection from their peers, Jude Saves the World is neither a coming out story nor a story of a queer kid overcoming bullying, two all-too-common tropes. Instead, Jude Saves the World gives authentic, joyful representation of personal growth and discovery. And this, of course, leads to the titular act – how does Jude save the world, exactly? By working with a local librarian to start a safe space group for marginalized people and their allies. On a local, personal scale, groups like that (and stories like Jude Saves the World) do just that – they save the world by showing queer, trans, and other marginalized youth that they are valid, supported, and deserving of space.

Ronnie Riley’s introductory note, glossary, and author’s note are all exceptionally thoughtful and reflective, and demonstrate how authors can (and should) take care of community when writing queer stories. As readers are promised, we see no misgendering or deadnaming on the pages of this book; such incidents are indicated with the appropriate names, pronouns, and gendered terms for the characters appearing in bold in the text, re-enforcing that a character’s deadname or assigned gender at birth are not materially important to the story at hand. The glossary contains a note of the year of its development and an acknowledgment that language evolves and that, in the future, some terms included may no longer be appropriate.

Jude Saves the World belongs in every collection serving youth. It shows queer youth thriving, shows effective allyship in action, and also provides an age-appropriate introduction to queer and trans identities. Its story is touching, funny, and relatable, and its characters are multi-faceted and a delight to get to know.