Miss Rita, Mystery Reader

by Sam Donovan, Kristen Wixted, Violet Tobacco (Illustrator)

Overview

In Sam Donovan, Kristen Wixted&Violet Tobacco's heartwarming picture book Miss Rita, Mystery Reader, Tori can’t wait to show off Daddy’s drag queen alter ego, Miss Rita, at school story time. But will the other kids love Miss Rita like Tori does?

Daddy is the Mystery Reader at Tori’s school today, and he’s coming dressed as Miss Rita! Tori helps Daddy gloss, glitter, glamour, and glimmer to get ready. It takes time—because sparkle is serious business!

Tori loves helping Daddy become Miss Rita. But will the other kids at school love Miss Rita like Tori does? Luckily, a last-minute idea helps Daddy and Tori find a way to make story time sparkle for everyone.

This heartwarming and relatable family story celebrates drag queens, reading, and self-acceptance, teaching every kid to let their sparkle shine! And it includes back matter providing an overview of drag performance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780374391164
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	05/03/2022
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	29 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Sam Donovan is a fashion designer and writer. You may have seen him as a contestant on Project Runway: Under the Gunn and Project Runway All Stars. As such, when Sam isn’t writing stories about drag queens getting dressed, he’s usually helping dress them up in his own creations. Sam lives in Massachusetts, where he can most likely be found teaching, cat-sitting, or making something sparkly—all with an iced coffee in hand.

Kristen Wixted writes picture books and middle grade novels. She’s the coeditor and general force behind the illustrated children’s poetry anthologies published by The Writers’ Loft, including Friends and Anemones: Ocean Poems for Children. She lives in Massachusetts with her family and is an experienced Mystery Reader who adores sparkly jewelry.

Violet Tobacco illustrates in her small apartment in the heart of Atlanta. Having a background in theater, she has translated her adoration for storytelling into illustration. Violet has the great fortune to work with other creative individuals and draw wild and whimsical worlds that help us better understand who we are. In addition to Miss Rita, Mystery Reader, she has also illustrated Gayle E. Pitman's My Maddy. The ocean and her orange cat are her best friends.

Sam Donovan is a fashion designer who loves color, print, and texture. If you’re a fan of Project Runway, Sam’s name might be familiar to you—he was the runner-up on Project Runway: Under the Gunn, and took 4th place on Season 5 of Project Runway: All Stars. He regularly designs clothes for drag performers, and hopes something he's designed inspires you to smile. He lives in Massachusetts.
Kristen Wixted writes picture books and middle grade novels. She’s the co-editor and general force behind the illustrated children’s poetry anthologies published by The Writers’ Loft Press, An Assortment of Animals and Friends and Anemones: Ocean Poems for Children. She is also an experienced Mystery Reader who lives in Massachusetts with her husband, three children, a dog, and a cat. In her spare time she can be found in her flower garden, which she is pretty sure is inhabited by magical creatures.
Violet Tobacco illustrates in her small apartment in the heart of Atlanta. Having a background in theater, she has translated her adoration for storytelling into illustration. Violet has the great fortune to work with other creative individuals and draw wild and whimsical worlds that help us better understand who we are. The ocean and her orange cat are her best friends. Find her on Instagram.

Editorial Reviews

"Sweet and reassuring...The vivid, expressive, and energetic illustrations catch just the right over-the-top tone. This fun selection is a great way to enhance picture-book collections." — Booklist, starred review

"The story is amusing and reads well. Drag performers should have this at the tops of their lists for drag-themed storytimes for the next several years—and a talented storyteller will be able to milk this for all it's worth... There's no mystery here; Miss Rita is going to werk all Pride Month! Let this winning pair sashay onto your shelf." — Kirkus Reviews

"Tori’s feelings—from excitement to wide-eyed nervousness—are clear in Tobacco’s digital art, while bright colors evoke drag’s vibrant nature. Donovan and Wixted's conversational text emphasizes an emotionally honest parent-child relationship, and like any good performance, it’s fun and full of heart." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2022-04-13
Sparkle is serious business—and so are storytimes.

Tori's father is scheduled to be the class mystery reader today—an event that initially makes Tori feel elated, but as Daddy gets dressed, emotions shift from joy to apprehension. Daddy is a drag queen who goes by the moniker Miss Rita, and Tori is afraid that their classmates won't love Miss Rita as much as they do. Thankfully, drag queens are used to thinking on their feet, and with the right words of comfort, Miss Rita reminds Tori that everyone wears different clothes for work. This, and the antics of Tori's pet cats—named for queer activists Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson—raises Tori's spirits and inspires them to transform into "Miss Tori Teller," a fabulously dressed assistant in a bow tie and a silvery skirt. The story is amusing and reads well. Drag performers should have this at the tops of their lists for drag-themed storytimes for the next several years—and a talented storyteller will be able to milk this for all it's worth. The digital illustrations are slightly generic—a terrible thing in drag—but the realistic depiction of Miss Rita as a middle-aged parent as opposed to an overfiltered drag fantasy is commendable. Tori and Daddy are light-skinned with dark hair; the students have a range of skin tones and hair textures. There's no mystery here; Miss Rita is going to werk all Pride Month! (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Let this winning pair sashay onto your shelf. (author's note) (Picture book. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews