Small Town Pride

Written by Phil Stamper

Narrated by Vikas Adam

From acclaimed author Phil Stamper (The Gravity of Us and As Far as You’ll Take Me) comes a poignant coming-of-age, contemporary middle grade debut novel about finding your place, using your voice, and the true meaning of pride. Perfect for fans of Rick by Alex Gino and The Best at It by Maulik Pancholy.

Jake is just starting to enjoy life as his school’s first openly gay kid. While his family and friends are accepting and supportive, the same can’t be said about everyone in their small town of Barton Springs, Ohio.

When Jake’s dad hangs a comically large pride flag in their front yard in an overblown show of love, the mayor begins to receive complaints. A few people are even concerned the flag will lead to something truly outlandish: a pride parade.

Except Jake doesn’t think that’s a ridiculous idea. Why can’t they hold a pride festival in Barton Springs? The problem is, Jake knows he’ll have to get approval from the town council, and the mayor won’t be on his side. And as Jake and his friends try to find a way to bring Pride to Barton Springs, it seems suspicious that the mayor’s son, Brett, suddenly wants to spend time with Jake.

But someone that cute couldn’t possibly be in league with his mayoral mother, could he?

• An ALA Rainbow List Pick
• A 2022 Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist for Best Middle Grade and Children’s Book
• A School Library Journal Best Book of 2022
• A Maine Student Book Award 2023-2024 Reading List Nominee

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: May 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9780063118812

Phil Stamper

Phil Stamper is the bestselling author of The Gravity of Us, As Far as You’ll Take Me, Golden Boys, Small Town Pride, and other queer books for kids and teens. He currently works in author development for a major book publisher in New York City, where he lives with his husband and their dog. Visit him at philstamper.com.  

Reviews for Small Town Pride

[Christina Bustos · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a great book. I Loved the audio voices! Such a sweet story of young kiddos very wholesome.

[lafeeriedeslivres · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Cute book. Good MCs, and I loved the relationship between Jake and his family. Some things were « ??? » and the narrator sounded weird at some point…

[Amy Skoczlas · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book brings together so much warm hearted pride and all sorts of porting words!

[Halina Kaczmarek · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cute and sweet, but also stereotypical. I wished for a longer epilogue... :/

[drronmccoy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Insightful story into the workings of small town family and community relationships in a rapidly evolving world. Sensitively drawn young adult characters (and adult characters too!) and the challenges they face in putting on a small town’s first pride festival. The author builds a world, so that you get a clear understanding of what came before, and what might happen afterwards. Intensely human, but at the same time exploring important social and demographic challenges of living in small towns. Although this is set in rural America, the themes explored are universal for small towns across the globe. Stamper always writes with such great care, depth and compassion, and this very special story should inspire all those people living in small towns around the world to live and be who they are. A wonderful story. PS How amazing is Vikas Adam? Simply the best!!