 Paige Watts | Welcome to the first weekend of April! Spring means love is in the air, and we are celebrating with a romantic comedy that investigates identity, fitting in, and falling in love. Our many thanks to Paige Watts for bringing us this first Weekend Pick for the month: And They Were Roommates by Page Powars. Paige Watts is an Instructor at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where she teaches composition and Young Adult Literature. She is also one of the Faculty Advisors for NCTE at LSU. Her research interests include Young Adult Literature, multimodal literacy, and pedagogical approaches to teaching genre fiction. She is often seen carrying a tote full of craft supplies to her classes and loves a classroom full of student discussion. |
And They Were Roommates by Page Powars
| And They Were Roommates by Page Powars is a romantic comedy novel that follows Charlie Von Hevringprinz as he starts classes at his dream school—a religious, boarding school for boys. Charlie is anxious about keeping his identity as a trans student a secret but becomes even more worried when he’s assigned a roommate he knows. A guy he hates. A guy who broke his heart before he transitioned. Jasper is well-known on campus for being theatrical in his poetry, admired by many of the boys, and a charmer to many of the girls on the sister campus. Charlie knows he has to make friends with Jasper in order to fit in on campus, but he has a hard time leaving the past in the past. However, he soon learns there may be more to Jasper than just being a famous poet and leaving behind broken hearts. This story is written to be funny, quirky, and so silly-sweet, I was grinning while I read it. It is everything a YA romcom should be, from inventive tropes to dramatic declarations, while also considering the complex issues these teens are facing. |  Page Powars |
 | Charlie is facing an immense amount of academic pressure, while also having to keep a huge secret about his identity that might risk his opportunity at his school. It’s a lot for someone to handle. Even in the midst of trying to be the perfect student, like all teens, he is able to make friends, find a place to belong, and consider what it might be like to fall in love. And They Were Roommates has so many beautifully human moments between Charlie and his new friends at school while they all try to figure out how they can be part of the school’s traditions but also challenge how the school can create space for everyone. The characters begin the novel with large personalities, but the book does a great job of exploring who they are and the depths they all have. The characters are deep and human, while also being lovable. And most importantly, this novel really shows queer joy and belonging. We see so many of Charlie’s insecurities as they are, while also getting to see him find a place to belong, to be seen, and to love. |
Opportunities for the Classroom:
While many of us may face challenges teaching a romance or queer text at the center of a unit, this is an excellent book to provide students for free reading or choice reading projects. In a choice reading projects, some analysis opportunities include:
- Consider how the characters develop over time through relationships. How do these interactions among peers allow for growth and more deep portrayals of characters? What “layers” do you see in the characters that make them more complex?
- Identify the aspects of the romance genre in the text. How does the book apply conventional romance tropes? How is it different from many romance traditions?
- Examine how community and belonging play a role in Charlie’s development throughout the novel. How does his connection to his classmates allow him to better understand and accept himself?
- Reflect on how the story presents queerness. How does Charlie’s identity shape the story? How might the story show the process of embracing queer identities? How does the novel emphasize queer joy instead of centering queer pain?
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