ParentsPick

Rick — Content Guide for Parents

By Alex GinoScholastic Press2020ISBN 9781338048100223 pages
Rick

Found in this book

  • ViolenceBrief
  • Sexual contentBrief
  • Gender & orientationCentral

Not found

  • Scary content
  • Religion
  • Race & culture
  • Profanity
  • Climate
  • Gender roles

Content themes

Factual summary of themes present in this book. No opinion — just the facts.

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Summaries and source quotes for every theme.

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Religion

PRESENT

Contains references to prayer and church attendance. A minister character plays a supporting role in two chapters.

About this book

From the award-winning author of Melissa, the story of a boy named Rick who needs to explore his own identity apart from his jerk of a best friend.

Rick's never questioned much. He's gone along with his best friend Jeff even when Jeff's acted like a bully and a jerk. He's let his father joke with him about which hot girls he might want to date even though that kind of talk always makes him uncomfortable. And he hasn't given his own identity much thought, because everyone else around him seemed to have figured it out.

But now Rick's gotten to middle school, and new doors are opening. One of them leads to the school's Rainbow Spectrum club, where kids of many genders and identities congregate, including Melissa, the girl who sits in front of Rick in class and seems to have her life together. Rick wants his own life to be that . . . understood. Even if it means breaking some old friendships and making some new ones.

As they did in their groundbreaking novel Melissa, in Rick, award-winning author Alex Gino explores what it means to search for your own place in the world . . . and all the steps you and the people around you need to take in order to get where you need to be.

Frequently asked questions

  • Is Rick appropriate for a 7-year-old?

    Rick's friend Jeff bullies others by name-calling, vandalizing the club's posters and setting a flier on fire in a bathroom, and past fights he started are mentioned. Jeff makes crude comments about girls' bodies a handful of times; otherwise there is only hand-holding and talk of "liking" someone.

  • Does Rick have violence?

    Found (Brief): Rick's friend Jeff bullies others by name-calling, vandalizing the club's posters and setting a flier on fire in a bathroom, and past fights he started are mentioned.

  • Does Rick have scary content?

    Not found in the sources we checked.

  • Does Rick have religion?

    Not found in the sources we checked.

  • Does Rick have race & culture?

    Not found in the sources we checked.

  • Does Rick have profanity?

    Not found in the sources we checked.

  • Does Rick have climate?

    Not found in the sources we checked.

  • Does Rick have sexual content?

    Found (Brief): Jeff makes crude comments about girls' bodies a handful of times; otherwise there is only hand-holding and talk of "liking" someone.

  • Does Rick have gender roles?

    Not found in the sources we checked.

  • Does Rick have gender & orientation?

    Found (Central): Rick, a sixth grader, questions his sexuality and thinks he may be asexual or aromantic, joins his school's Rainbow Spectrum club, and meets transgender and nonbinary characters.