A celebration of friendship and first crushes, From Archie to Zack follows Archie who loves Zack, but hasn’t told him yet. Zack, meanwhile, loves Archie, but hasn’t told him, either. In less than forty pages, this adorable picture book chronicles the story of how Archie and Zack find the courage and the perfect way to tell each other that they love the other one. And yes, I might have shed a tear or two within these pages even though I’m about twenty years older than the intended audience.
This is just such a pure and gentle look at first love and first crushes. The wholesome way in which Zack and Archie spend every day together, inseparable, yet trying to figure out how to articulate their feelings, made me so emotional.
While this might not be a big deal to some people, I found my heart swelling to twice its size at this sweet-spirited story and the casual representation of a boy-on-boy crush. In a picture book, no less! I cannot tell you how happy I am to see queer representation moving into picture books, not to mention the casual inclusive storytelling we have here: there are characters of all cultural backgrounds and skin colours depicted and they are all incredibly supportive of Archie and Zack’s attempts to tell each other about their feelings. This is the kind of representation we need, especially early on for children to normalise it from the beginning and show them that love is love!
Gentle and sweet, From Archie to Zack is a stunningly illustrated picture book following two boys finding ways to articulate their love for each other, set against a supportive and inclusive backdrop!
From Archie to Zack is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
Will you be picking up From Archie to Zack? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
An unapologetic celebration of friendship and first crushes
“Archie loves Zack!”
“Zack loves Archie!”
Everyone said it was so.
But Archie hasn’t told Zack yet. And Zack hasn’t told Archie. They spend just about every minute together: walking to and from school, doing science and art projects, practicing for marching band, learning to ride bikes, and so much more.
Over the course of a few months, Archie tries to write a letter to Zack to tell him how he feels: “From A to Z.” None of his drafts sound quite right, so he hides them all away. One by one, Archie’s friends (Zelda, Zinnia, and Zuzella) find the letters . . . but they know exactly whom they’re meant for. This new picture book from Vincent X. Kirsch celebrates young, queer love in a whimsical, kid-friendly way.
