Dancing Barefoot (Alice Boyle, Text)
Dancing Barefoot brings a warm and uplifting queer contemporary romance to the #LoveOzYA, #AusQueerYA and #OwnVoices scenes. Winner of the 2021 Text Prize, Alice Boyle’s debut novel follows Patti ‘Patch’ Smith (yes, named after the punk rock legend) as she finds herself, finds her voice, and finds romance. As the bookish, (closeted) lesbian, scholarship kid, Patch has managed to make just one friend, Edwin, in her four and a half years at Mountford College. She also has one bully, Abigail, and one longstanding, unrequited crush, Evie, champion of the basketball team. All this starts to change, however, after an unfortunate encounter with Abigail leaves Patch with a ruined uniform, and Evie comes to the rescue. Dancing Barefoot is as much a coming-of-age story as it is a romance—tension and reader investment are maintained throughout as Patch navigates changing and competing priorities. The climax is unsurprising but satisfying, and the characters are a queer hipster’s dream—Patch lives above her dad’s record shop on Sydney Road in Brunswick; her best friend is affirming his gender (with no transphobia, gatekeeping or waitlists in sight); her little brother watches musicals on repeat; and there’s an abundance of references to niche music and queer icons. For fans of Fiona Wood, Emily Gale and Sophie Gonzales, Dancing Barefoot is suited to readers aged 14 and up seeking a contemporary, feminist, urban-Australian romance, and/or those seeking comforting queer representation with a pop culture twist.
Jordi Kerr is a freelance reviewer and youth literature advocate, and a support worker for the queer community.
