Chaotic Good by Whitney Gardner

Abstract

Reviewed by: Chaotic Good by Whitney Gardner Karen Coats Gardner, WhitneyChaotic Good; written and illus. by Whitney Gardner. Knopf, 2018 [256p] Library ed. ISBN 978-1-5247-2081-0 $20.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-5247-2080-3 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-5247-2082-7 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 7-10 Cameron is a gifted designer who has received a paid commission in hand and who hopes to go to Cal Arts, and she's fed up with having to justify her love of cosplay to boys who think costumed girls are just seeking the attention of geeky boys. After her first visit to a local comics shop introduces her to chauvinistic Brody, she decides to dress as a boy next time to avoid his condescension, and she is graciously welcomed into boy world when Why, another employee, asks her to join their afterhours D & D group. She invites her lovelorn brother, Cooper, and it's game on, complete with graphic segments bringing the gameplay to life. As Cam works feverishly on her portfolio of new costumes to earn admission to Cal Arts, her blog blows up with increasingly nasty comments about girl cosplay, prompting her to continue her masquerade far beyond its ethical boundaries. Like Castellucci's Don't Cosplay with My Heart (BCCB 12/17), this romance acts as an exposé of the virulent sexism inherent in the nerdverse. However, the relationship details here are as complexly woven as a Shakespearean comedy: Why is crushing on Cam as a guy, Cooper likes Why, and Cam is smitten with the Dungeon Master, Lincoln. Rather than playing the situation for laughs, however, Gardner challenges the ethics of pretending to be something you're not, even if it seems to make things easier. She is even somewhat sensitive to the motivations behind Brody's attitude, offering him, and bros like him, an opportunity for redemption. Cam's predicament will resonate with girls whose vocational aspirations run toward geek. KC Copyright © 2017 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois