A review by mezzano
It Doesn't Take a Genius by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
adventurous
slow-paced
3.0
In this delightful story about Black excellence and growing past personal flaws, readers are introduced to Emmett, a middle schooler who is used to being the gifted overachiever. When Emmett's brother Luke is accepted as a junior counselor at a Black summer camp, Emmett's plans to spend time with Luke before he goes off to a prestigious art school are slashed. Unknowingly to the rest of Emmett's family, he applies to the summer camp in order to spend more time with Luke--and gets in! What follows is a relatable and nuanced story about recognizing mistakes and growing past them.
When engaging with diverse literature (especially kid's literature), it is impossible to separate one's identity from the story of the characters. Indeed, Emmett's Blackness is important to the narrative. Throughout Emmett's time at summer camp, Emmett is asked to think critically about his culture, interests, and perspectives of the world. While Black Excellence is shining and the story is largely an optimistic and joyful one, discussions about Emmett Till and other examples of racial injustice are brought up in the narrative. These discussions are important. In order for Emmett to learn about who he is, he must also see himself in his history and culture. The story's setting at a Black summer camp was excellent for this reason, as it allows Emmett to grow naturally while also having the exposure to learn more about his culture. While the focus of the story is not racial injustice, it was great to see these topics handled so well in the story. This is undoubtedly due to Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich's own perspectives as a Black person, and I'm grateful more Own Voices literature is coming out in middle grade fiction.
The main focus of the narrative is truly Emmett himself. It is easy for many middle grade novels to create a self-centered protagonist who is played for laughs or is made incredibly sympathetic to the reader. Neither is the case here, as Rhuday-Perkovich allows the reader to sit with all of Emmett's selfish and self-centered actions, and then watch Emmett grow as a result. In a story where the character starts off as a student who rarely fails, bringing the character into a summer camp with others who are known for their gifted qualities was an excellent idea. Emmett can no longer rely on his gifted reputation, but must truly push himself and learn from new situations. What results is a messy and complicated learning curve. Emmett definitely grows from his time at the summer camp, but not in the ways the reader may predict. The narrative is not wholly about Emmett and Luke's relationship. Emmett must overcome his fear of swimming, desire to take charge always, and need to be the center of attention. All of these talking points do tie into Luke and Emmett's relationship, but they also tie into all of Emmett's relationships he makes at the camp. Emmett learns, whether he likes it or not, that he has plenty of learning to do on his own.
It Doesn't Take a Genius is a great book for its diverse perspective and central themes. Even so, there are aspects of the book which I wish were handled more delicately. Emmett is self-centered, jealous, and at times annoying. This is intentional and essential for Emmett's growth, but many scenes which could have had emotional punches instead gave waves of secondhand embarrassment to the reader. At times, it was hard to be sympathetic towards Emmett because even the consequences he does experience never quite matched up to Emmett's worst actions. He has no real consequence of forging his way into the Black summer camp or purposely sabotaging other people in the story. In addition, Emmett is shown to be a bright child, but when he goes to summer camp, he struggles to shine. I appreciate the novel's attempt to say that a child doesn't need to be smart or excellent to be a better person. I also wished that we were able to see Emmett learn more in the story, rather than his friends laugh at how little he apparently knows. At times, I definitely considered how socio-economics played a role in the different character's successes and talents--especially with the characters who considered themselves "legacy" campers. At the end of the day, I felt many of Emmett's blunders were not from a lack of intelligence, but instead experience. Having this brought up, rather than enforcing the idea that Emmett was just lucky to be there, would have been a nice touch.
Overall, this is the perfect middle grade novel. There is plenty of relatable emotional beats true to middle school personas while offering plenty of learning opportunities for the readers without feeling preachy. The importance of cultural identity is discussed in a way which feels more like an encouragement to inquiry than a textbook. At the same time, the book is unapologetically Black. The characters are Black and proud to be Black. The Black characters discuss ways to celebrate both their excellence and their Blackness. It's novels which are able to perfectly acknowledge the challenges and joys of cultural identity that are truly important, and I can appreciate that this sub plot runs next to Emmett's own personal challenges. By the end of the book, Emmett hasn't quite figured out who he is, what he wants, or how he wants to be better than he is now. This is realistic and okay for a book about a twelve year old boy, especially one who has finally learned when to say he's not always in the right.
When engaging with diverse literature (especially kid's literature), it is impossible to separate one's identity from the story of the characters. Indeed, Emmett's Blackness is important to the narrative. Throughout Emmett's time at summer camp, Emmett is asked to think critically about his culture, interests, and perspectives of the world. While Black Excellence is shining and the story is largely an optimistic and joyful one, discussions about Emmett Till and other examples of racial injustice are brought up in the narrative. These discussions are important. In order for Emmett to learn about who he is, he must also see himself in his history and culture. The story's setting at a Black summer camp was excellent for this reason, as it allows Emmett to grow naturally while also having the exposure to learn more about his culture. While the focus of the story is not racial injustice, it was great to see these topics handled so well in the story. This is undoubtedly due to Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich's own perspectives as a Black person, and I'm grateful more Own Voices literature is coming out in middle grade fiction.
The main focus of the narrative is truly Emmett himself. It is easy for many middle grade novels to create a self-centered protagonist who is played for laughs or is made incredibly sympathetic to the reader. Neither is the case here, as Rhuday-Perkovich allows the reader to sit with all of Emmett's selfish and self-centered actions, and then watch Emmett grow as a result. In a story where the character starts off as a student who rarely fails, bringing the character into a summer camp with others who are known for their gifted qualities was an excellent idea. Emmett can no longer rely on his gifted reputation, but must truly push himself and learn from new situations. What results is a messy and complicated learning curve. Emmett definitely grows from his time at the summer camp, but not in the ways the reader may predict. The narrative is not wholly about Emmett and Luke's relationship. Emmett must overcome his fear of swimming, desire to take charge always, and need to be the center of attention. All of these talking points do tie into Luke and Emmett's relationship, but they also tie into all of Emmett's relationships he makes at the camp. Emmett learns, whether he likes it or not, that he has plenty of learning to do on his own.
It Doesn't Take a Genius is a great book for its diverse perspective and central themes. Even so, there are aspects of the book which I wish were handled more delicately. Emmett is self-centered, jealous, and at times annoying. This is intentional and essential for Emmett's growth, but many scenes which could have had emotional punches instead gave waves of secondhand embarrassment to the reader. At times, it was hard to be sympathetic towards Emmett because even the consequences he does experience never quite matched up to Emmett's worst actions. He has no real consequence of forging his way into the Black summer camp or purposely sabotaging other people in the story. In addition, Emmett is shown to be a bright child, but when he goes to summer camp, he struggles to shine. I appreciate the novel's attempt to say that a child doesn't need to be smart or excellent to be a better person. I also wished that we were able to see Emmett learn more in the story, rather than his friends laugh at how little he apparently knows. At times, I definitely considered how socio-economics played a role in the different character's successes and talents--especially with the characters who considered themselves "legacy" campers. At the end of the day, I felt many of Emmett's blunders were not from a lack of intelligence, but instead experience. Having this brought up, rather than enforcing the idea that Emmett was just lucky to be there, would have been a nice touch.
Overall, this is the perfect middle grade novel. There is plenty of relatable emotional beats true to middle school personas while offering plenty of learning opportunities for the readers without feeling preachy. The importance of cultural identity is discussed in a way which feels more like an encouragement to inquiry than a textbook. At the same time, the book is unapologetically Black. The characters are Black and proud to be Black. The Black characters discuss ways to celebrate both their excellence and their Blackness. It's novels which are able to perfectly acknowledge the challenges and joys of cultural identity that are truly important, and I can appreciate that this sub plot runs next to Emmett's own personal challenges. By the end of the book, Emmett hasn't quite figured out who he is, what he wants, or how he wants to be better than he is now. This is realistic and okay for a book about a twelve year old boy, especially one who has finally learned when to say he's not always in the right.
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism