Dean Atta’s The Black Flamingo is a brilliant coming of age story written in prose and following Michael as he grows up in London as a mixed-race gay teen. I adored every second of this book and can’t recommend it enough.
The Black Flamingo, Dean Atta
Themes: Contemporary, LGBT, Young Adult, Coming of Age, Poetry
Reading Format: Paperback
5 STARS // 9 CAWPILE
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Michael’s story is told by Dean Atta through prose of beautiful poetry, displaying his character perfectly in artists forms across the pages of this book. Michael is a mixed-race, gay teen living in London with his mum and sister. He is figuring a lot out about himself and really coming into his own. We join him from age 6 to being at university and see many of his joys and struggles along the way.
This book perfectly reflects the painful feeling of liking someone who doesn’t like you back, of being confused by feelings and emotions and of not knowing what direction you should run in. Michael’s struggles are amplified by his sexuality as he tries to be accepted in his school and is sadly bullied initially for being gay. Following Michael through school and into university, The Black Flamingo addresses how we all change over these periods in our life. I think this book does an excellent job of demonstrating how different we are at the start of school, to the end and then to when we are at university. Even though this is a quick read due to its format, I still felt I really went on this journey with Michael.
Michael is half Jamaican and half Greek Cypriot and I feel I learnt a lot from his experiences in this book. His struggle to fit in amongst societies at uni was so sad to read about, but seeing him eventually find acceptance from himself and others felt so empowering. Michael is a truly realistic character who goes through real struggles, reading this book I saw moments we all must have experienced, and some we haven’t all been through. Dean Atta is a wonderfully diverse author, he has done an exceptional job of writing a book that offers something for everyone, whilst also being able to teach the reader too.
I will remember this book for a long time to come and I am sure it is one I will one day reread too. Pick up a copy if you haven’t already, you could read this in a few hours so it could be the perfect weekend book!
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Great review! Also, I really like that cover.