Our theme for the month of February is “plants.”

I recently learned that the marigold is the flower of Día de Muertos. The association goes back to the Aztecs, who believed the scent guided ancestors to the oferendas, or altars, set up for them by their families. 

I learned this in Aiden Thomas’ 2021 debut novel, Cemetery Boys, along with how nourishing it is to see joy and triumph in people like you, no matter the age.

Cemetery Boys is about Yadriel, a trans teen desperate to prove himself as a brujo, a person with the power to see and interact with the dead in various Latinx communities across Central and South America as well as the Caribbean. To do so, he summons a ghost all on his own in order to solve his cousin’s sudden mysterious murder. 

Only Yadriel summons the wrong ghost. Instead of his cousin, he summons Julian Diaz, a local bad boy who died just as mysteriously. 

Typical, sometimes even predictable, YA paranormal hijinks ensue, but I think that’s exactly where the beauty of Cemetery Boys lies. While I’ve always been an advocate of diverse fiction, the strain and stress of the last two-plus years have robbed me of a lot of the elitist snobbery that used to come with it. 

Queer folks don’t need to write better stories than cishet folks, nor do people of color in comparison to white folks. We just need to write and be seen. If anything, a simple joyful book about young queer love and identity against the colorful kaleidoscope of traditions that makes up Día de Muertos is even more radical than anything considered highbrow right now. We’re tired and burnt out. It’s hard to imagine happy endings with the state of the world and “happy endings” are only recently beginning to be a part of queer folks’ vocabulary.

Not to say Cemetery Boys isn’t without its literary merits. The characters are loveable and vibrant, the writing flows flawlessly, and the themes are perfect for 2022 but also timeless. All the good things, as well as the slightly cheesy and predictable things, come together to make it something far more beautiful and radical than the sum of its parts. 

So, if you need some marigold-orange sunshine in your life, 10/10, I recommend Aiden Thomas’ Cemetery Boys. It’s hopeful, warm, dark, and dangerous in equal measures. 

Most importantly, it has an ending we could all use right now. 

Finnely King-Scoular

Finnely King-Scoular (’14) is stationed at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, VA, where he lives with his wife, Rosalind (’13). His writing, including the Faerie Court Chronicles series from NineStar Press, focuses on contemporary fantasy with an emphasis on LGBTQ+ representation.