By Gayle E. Pitman
A little girl lovingly describes her parent, who is neither a mom nor a dad but a Maddy, and all the wonderful in-between things they share.
Most mommies are girls and most daddies are boys, this girl explains, but her parent is neither, and that's why they're a Maddy. She walks us through everything she loves about Maddy: how Maddy is drawn to the things that live in between, a sunrise that's neither day nor night, a motorcycle that's neither a car nor a bike, each one kind of both and something all its own. It's a quiet, tender portrait of one child's love for the parent who's exactly right for her.
It never explains or defends anything. It's simply a child telling you about a parent she adores, and the love does all the work. Violet Tobacco's soft, glowing art matches the between-the-hours feeling of the words. For a family with a nonbinary parent, or any child who'll meet one, it offers a picture of that love as ordinary and lovely, which is exactly what makes it land.