He's half Jamaican, half Greek, and starting from childhood, we see how he begins to form his identity as a biracial man of color who is attracted to men. In some scenarios we see ourselves as the hero, and at other times we have been made to feel like the villain.

Poet Dean Atta talks about the experience of writing his award-winning debut novel in verse, The Black Flamingo, and the impact he hopes it will have on readers. They are a CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal nominee for their work on the cover and interiors of YA novel The Black Flamingo (by Dean Atta, published by Hodder Books).Ebooks fulfilled through Glose cannot be printed, downloaded as PDF, or read in other digital readers (like Kindle or Nook). They should say the name of the person they’re passing the alphabet soup to, then mute themselves again. I enjoyed creating the characters and relationships in this book and when writing it I experimented with different dynamics between each of the characters. Maybe I'm too literal, but I tend to have a hard time deciphering the meaning and become easily frustrated. The Black Flamingo was also awarded the prestigious Stonewall Book Award and the Carnegie Shadowers' Choice Award 2020, and sold to the US in a five-way publisher auction.

It handles a lot of topics and nuance in a way that keeps the underlying messiness while reaching for something healthier and more whole with every page. There’s even evidence that flamingoes use pigment from their glands as makeup to enhance (rosy) coloration,” says Arengo. I hope you might find layers of meaning within the book, some of which might not have been apparent on first reading.My experience with poetry, of any sort, is limited, and those experiences I have had, were not great. I could tell that the sentence structure was different from a regular novel but I think I would have had more of an impact if I had read it (especially considering the regular book apparently had a pictures and other visual formats to enhance the story). Head over to The Children’s Society to learn more about why personal identity is important and what you can do if you’re feeling confused about your identity.