The Fabulous Zed Watson!
The Fabulous Zed Watson!
Finally, the day arrived. A special occasion such as this called for a special outfit. I had already planned to wear my bright purple sweater with bats all over it, but that morning, I also threw on my favorite white- and-black-striped sweatpants. For good measure, I also wore my glittery silver suspenders. I was ready….
Where were Sam and Gabe?
I heard the car before I saw it. Have you ever seen a nature documentary where a lion attacks a zebra, and the dying zebra makes this horrible noise?
That noise sounded like music compared to the clanking and wheezing that was coming from the next block.
A scavenger hunt across the US to find a hidden manuscript; a journey of self-discovery; and three very different young people learning to get along and appreciate what makes them all special.
Zed isn’t your average kid, and that’s what makes them so great. They love sweaters with flamboyant patters, their big rambunctious family, and they are obsessed with the mystery of The Monster’s Castle—an unpublished manuscript hidden away by a reclusive author, with only a series of clues concealed in a poem to lead the way. And it just so happens that Zed and their friend Gabe have figured out the first few clues using Gabe’s knowledge of flora and Zed’s encyclopedic knowledge of the poem. Together with Gabe’s sister, Sam, they head out on the road in a less-than-road-worthy car by the name of Dolly Carton, to see if they can be the first to find The Monster’s Castle since it was first hidden from the world.
Things don’t get off to the best start, however. Gabe won’t take off his headphones, Sam is super bossy, and nobody seems to want all the snacks that Zed so lovingly brought along for them all. At one point, the air conditioning breaks down, Zed gets misgendered at almost all of their many ice cream stops, and a mysterious new user has appeared on the Monster’s Castle fan site, claiming that the trio is on the wrong path to find the manuscript. But it’s not all bad. Gabe and Sam get closer while on the road, and they learn a lot more about each other. And Sam even finds a connection with someone she did not expect to see along the way.
The narrative is well-paced and engrossing, but it also contains some solid educational components which don’t feel overly didactic or preachy. Zed is a delightful protagonist, full of heart and humor, with a personality as big and colorful as their outfits—many of which are amusingly illustrated by Kevin throughout the book. Gabe and Zed’s friendship shines on the page, and discussion of Zed’s gender is treated with respect and nuance. Full of twists and turns, laughs and emotional lows, The Fabulous Zed Watson is a delightful road trip novel for young readers. The parent-child duo of Kevin and Basil Sylvester weave together an engrossing mystery with a delightful, diverse cast of characters who cover a range of genders and sexualities.
The Fabulous Zed Watson is a satisfying and entertaining novel about adventure, friendship, respect, and the many and varied ways of existing in the world, especially when people would sometimes rather have us conform. Parents, teachers, and librarians would be remiss not to have this fabulous book available for the young people in their lives.
Rob Bittner has a PhD in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies (Simon Fraser University), and is also a graduate of the MA in Children’s Literature program at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia. He loves reading a wide range of literature but particularly stories with diverse depictions of gender and sexuality.