Jackson is an exuberant middle schooler who causes an inadvertent ruckus on the last day of school when he spills juice on his outfit and borrows a polka dot dress from his best friend Eva's older sister. He's given a hard time by bullies, and one particularly nasty teacher, Miss Helton, takes him to the principal. His mother is called, and she is NOT happy... with the school. She supports Jackson, and is angry that she had to step away from work. Jackson's father has lost his job and is depressed, so the family needs to money. Eva, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronous, supports Jackson as well. When the two friends are shopping at a thrift store, they see an advertisement for a beauty pageant, and Jackson decides that he will enter in disguise. He and Eva come up with a name, Sissy St. James, and when Jackson's uncle Aaron visits, he signs the permission slip and helps Jackson with his makeup and costuming. The talent portion of the program is hard, but Jackson works to improve his performance. There are plenty of problems along the way, but Aaron and Eva are always supportive. Jackson has a crush on a boy, Lucas, whose sister is competing in the pageant, which complicates things a little. Jackson is eventually found out, but there are no rules that say that boys can't compete. What will his parents think when they find out?
Strengths: Poblocki is best known for his horror titles, so this is an interesting change for him. Jackson and Eva are fast friends who come up with a plan and implement it, even though there are some problems along the way. There's even some very realistic friend drama. Jackson's parents and uncle are supportive, even if there are some pretty pressing problems that are worrying everyone. It was good to see that the principal was reasonable, even if Miss Helton (who had also taught Aaron) was rather evil. Readers who find pageants interesting will find plenty to love here, as will students who find drag performing intriguing.
Weaknesses: Since I have never had a student participate in a pageant (I'm not even sure if there are any in our area), the appeal of this might be limited at my school.
What I really think: This was very similar to Chu's Queen Bees of Tybee County and joins the list of middle grade novels involving drag performance like Leahy's Mallory in Full Color, Howard's Middle School's a Drag, You Better Werk, and Zaczek's Martin McLean, Middle School Queen.