Full of colourful, authentic characters and set in Toronto, Confessions of a Teenage Drag King highlights diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, and identity. Seventeen-year-old Lauren tries to navigate the tricky waters of teen romance that brings high school to the drag show and back, all while Lauren must keep up their two personas — Ren, a drag king, and Lauri, a typical student — and come to terms with their feelings both for mixed-race student Clover and for their own identity as an LGBTQ+ teen. Confessions of a Teenage Drag King is a realistic but light-hearted exploration of gender and identity, making it a fun and topical read for today's teen readers.
By day, Lauri is a quiet, just-average high school student trying to stay as unnoticed as possible. By night, Lauri becomes Ren, a confident teenage drag king known for his crowd-pleasing performances at an all-ages drag show.
One night after a show Ren meets Clover and feels an instant connection, but then Clover shows up as the new kid at Lauri's school. While Ren continues to charm Clover, Lauri becomes more and more awkward in her presence.
It seems like it's just a matter of time before Lauri and Ren's two worlds collide. Will they learn to let Clover into their double life, or risk losing her for good?
MARKUS HARWOOD-JONES is an academic, a visual artist and the author of several short story collections and young adult novels including We Three, Just Julian and Romeo for Real in the Lorimer Real Love series. He is also co-producer of the film Mosaic: A Documentary & Dialogue. Markus currently holds a BA in Sociology, an MA in Gender Studies and is undertaking a Ph.D. at Queen's University. He lives in Toronto.
