The book Pet by Akwaeke Emezi, is a story that mixes utopia, good, and evil. It is set in the fictional town of Lucille which is rid of “monsters” (bad people). The monsters were removed long ago by angels during a traumatic time. Through the story the reader learns that angels are not easy to identify and can remain unseen if desired. Although the townspeople believe there are no more monsters, this is not the case.
In the story a monster is identified who is close to the main character Jam’s, best friend, Redemption. The monster doesn’t appear to be a monster. Through a series of events, an angel named Pet reveals itself to Jam and invokes Jam’s help in hunting the monster. In the end the monster is defeated and the town begins to take steps to fight monsters on its own. Although this sounds like a good story for children, there are several sub-themes that create confusion in young minds and work to push leftist political agendas.
The main character, Jam is a biological boy who declared he was a girl at age three. His father researched and supported Jam taking puberty blockers beginning around age 10. At age 15 Jam had gender reassignment surgery. Jam’s best friend, Redemption, has three parents; one male, one female and one gender unclear. The author uses they/them pronouns when referring to this character. Jam’s mother, Bitter, is the product of a rape. Her father was a monster, and right on page 1 we learn about other monsters; “They used to be the police and teachers and judges and even the mayor.” It goes on to say, “It was the angels who took apart the prisons and the police;….the angels banned firearms.”
The book briefly undermines religion and glorifies vegetarians, all the while undermining adults. It is clearly is anti-parent, anti-adult and anti-straight. The adults are completely oblivious to the fact that monsters still exist, and they ignore it when brought to their attention. Therefore, the parent role is replaced by the character Pet. In effect, this encourages children to accept guidance from adults who disagree with their parents.
In addition to his three parents, Redemption lives with his younger brother Moss, and his Aunt Glass who is married to Hibiscus. Hibiscus is Redemption’s much admired boxing coach. It turns out the monster is Hibiscus, and he has been abusing Moss. Once this is revealed, there is vigil-anti justice that is carried out by the children and the angel. The useless parents only come to understand what has taken place at the very end of the story.
At first glance, this appears to be a fun fantasy story for children, but a thorough analysis reveals that this story is offered to children with a clear indoctrination agenda attached. It is anti-straight, anti-parent, anti-adult, anti-police, anti-mayor, anti-teacher, anti-religion, pro-gender unclear, pro-vigil-anti justice, and pro-gun control. It places expectations on children to identify and stop abuse. It is a heavy book for children that places the weight of the world on their shoulders. Fighting child abuse is the responsibility of adults. Kids can learn about sexuality when they are adults. Let kids be kids.
Pet was advertised in a display promoting black authors at Grand Haven High School. This book is available in the GHAPS libraries at Lakeshore Middle School and Grand Haven High School. This is an example of a library book, not sitting on the shelf, but being RECOMMENDED to our youth.