I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House. It was the cover art that initially made me want to read this book. I mean look at how cool it is. I'm glad that the inside of the book matched my expectations after seeing the cover.
Sir Callie and the Champions of Heltson follows the story of Callie who is decidedly not a girl and very resistant to anything that would force them into the girl box. This is complicated though, especially in a world in which girls have magic and boys do not and people who are neither do not exist. The book begins with Callie and their dad, a knight, escaping from their mother who'd forced Callie to behave like a girl. Callie and their father find a community in which people who are different live together peacefully. The safe haven they found only lasts so long though and soon a letter from Helston (where the castle and royal family are) is delivered to Callie's dad. He's expected to go train the prince to prepare him to be king.
Callie, who's always dreamed of being a knight insists on going with their father, but their other dad warns that Helston is not all that Callie has imagined. Unfortunately, Callie finds this to be true when upon their arrival they are sent to live in the Queen's quarters and learn to behave like a lady. Callie is a knight and believes strongly that knights do what's right and this gets them into trouble. They push up against societal norms, against the villain of the story, Lord Peran, and encourage their friends to behave the same.
Esme Symes-Smith wrote an incredible villain. In many fantasy stories, we see villains as supernatural entities, but in this story, our main villain is just a man with too much power. Lord Peran is so infuriatingly evil. I had to take a break to let the anger subside before continuing reading he made me so angry. He hates people who are different and most horribly, he enjoys bullying children. He's a good villain for kids though. I remember being a young queer kid myself and having to push against adults who felt they knew so much more than I did. Even now, as an adult myself, I still feel that sometimes the adults get it wrong.
Callie is brave in a way that I wish I could be and has the opportunity to battle their enemies in a way I wish I could. If I could take a sword and fight some of these politicians, I would as Callie does. I also found that this book was cathartic. For many queer adults, we have a lot of anger and fear left over from our childhoods. There were many times when we were not big enough, or strong enough, or listened to enough to do what Callie does. Through this book, I think we can find some healing in tackling society in a way many of us are unable to in life.
This book is truly wonderful. It features of course a nonbinary kid which is very uncommon in the literature currently. It also features said nonbinary kid having two dads. It shows the importance of friendship. It shows that family can be who we choose instead of who we are born into. It shows that we can fight battles that are hard and scary. There's a lot of value in this book and while I do recommend it for middle-grade readers, I also think this book would be good for older readers as well.
This book deals with a lot of complicated issues so there are content warnings to be aware of especially if you are going to be reading it with your kids. First of all, this is a book about knights so there are battles that take place that result in injury. There is also discussion of child abuse, transphobia, homophobia, sexism, mentions of death, and more. As always I will point my readers toward StoryGraph for a full list of warnings provided by readers.
Please check this book out, it is absolutely incredible. The book just came out the other day so it needs lots of love from readers. As of now, I'll be anxiously awaiting the second book to see what Callie and their friends get up to next time.
As always happy reading.
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