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Kens
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Kens

by Raziel Reid
  • diversity
  • fiction
  • from-british-columbia
  • lgbtq

Heterosexuality is so last season: Kens is the gay Heathers meets Mean Girls, a shocking parody for a whole new generation.

Ken Hilton rules Willows High with his carbon-copies, Ken Roberts and Ken Carson, standing next to his throne. It can be hard to tell the Kens apart. There are minor differences in each edition, but all Kens are created from the same mold, straight out of Satan’s doll factory. Soul sold separately. Tommy Rawlins can’t help but compare himself to these shimmering images of perfection that glide through the halls. He’s desperate to fit in, but in a school where the Kens are queens who are treated like Queens, Tommy is the uncool gay kid. A once-in-a-lifetime chance at becoming a Ken changes everything for Tommy, just as his eye is caught by the tall, dark, handsome new boy, Blaine. Has Blaine arrived in time to save him from the Kens?

Tommy has high hopes for their future together, but when their shared desire to overthrow Ken Hilton takes a shocking turn, Tommy must decide how willing he is to reinvent himself – inside and out. Is this new version of Tommy everything he’s always wanted to be, or has he become an unknowing and submissive puppet in a sadistic plan?

Contributors

Raziel Reid, author

Raziel Reid’s debut young adult novel, When Everything Feels Like the Movies, won the 2014 Governor General’s Literary Award for English-language children’s literature, making him, at 24 years old, the youngest ever person to win the prestigious award. When Everything Feels Like the Movies has been optioned for film by Random Bench Productions, was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, and for Publishing Triangle’s Ferro-Grumley Award. Reid lives in Vancouver.

Reviews

  • The novel’s critique of societal obsessions with media and self-image, combined with its brilliant takedown of queer culture’s ‘alpha gays,’ makes it a worthwhile read. Reid reads consumer culture to filth. - Kirkus Link to review
  • This is a story of identity and acceptance and, like all of Raziel’s work, it’s funny and provocative and deeply disturbing… Because don’t we all wear masks? Don’t we all borrow faces? What happens when we can’t take them off and what happens when we forget who we are? - Elaine Liu, LaineyGossip.com Link to review

Rights Holder

Rights Holder: Westwood Creative Artists

email: meg@wcaltd.com

website: http://www.wcaltd.com/

rights sold: English (Canada), USA

rights available: World, excl. English (Canada), USA

Additional Information

age range: 13 and up

number of pages: 256

publication date: 09/18/2018

Original language of pub: English

Materials Available: complete manuscript