Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms
By Rashauna Herms
It’s Annie Ginter’s final year of high school, and her principal, as well as her mother, want her to join the school’s cheerleading squad to round out the extracurricular activities on her college applications. This is the absolute last thing that the bright, yet antisocial Annie wants; especially since she doesn’t particularly care about the world of sports at all. Annie’s former best friend, Beatrice Diaz (aka BeeBee), is the reluctant captain of the cheerleading squad and is the polar opposite of Annie. BeeBee has spent her senior year pushing herself to cram as many extracurricular activities into her resume as she can in order to keep her parents in good spirits — and to keep their support of her gender transition.
After a heartfelt discussion with her mother, Annie decides to push the preconceived notions she has about cheerleaders aside and give the squad a shot. As both girls take on the trials and tribulations of cheer training, dealing with micro-aggressions from peers and facing the societal pressures of a nuanced adult world, they rekindle their friendship they thought was over, as well as discover a blossoming romance between them.
“Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms” is an adorable, dynamic graphic novel written by Crystal Frasier and illustrated by Oscar O. Jupiter. The vivid and joyful illustrations will ensnare your attention, and the easily approachable themes of this book will keep you hooked.
“Cheer Up” touches on what it truly means to be an ally and how we all can benefit from listening to others’ needs, instead of giving them what we think they want. There are a few times when Beebee’s friends, including Annie, think they are being supportive, but they are putting her in a position that she doesn’t want to be in. They assume that because BeeBee is socially transitioning to female, she is the same as the other girls on the squad, and they speak over her because of this. Allyship is great, but it is possible for the ally to make it all about themself. At one point, one of the cheerleaders exclaims “BeeBee is better at being a girl than me”, which might sound supportive, but it is not. Being a girl is not a competition, a race or something you get good at. It is just something you simply are.
BeeBee feels like the token Trans person that everyone uses to display just how tolerant they are and I bet that’s annoying — I can relate as someone who has been used as the token Black person that “proves” how anti-racist someone is, without them doing the actual work of being anti-racist. I definitely understood BeeBee’s annoyance and I felt for her.
Another scene that stuck out to me was when BeeBee and the squad are entering another school for a game. The opposing coach approaches a random tall girl on the team and begins to scream at her, calling her a “crossdresser”. Since the coach doesn’t actually know what BeeBee looks like, she just assumes that the tallest girl on the team is Trans. Once we as a society set out to put strict definitions or rules around womanhood, it fails all of us and so many women would be outcast because of these arbitrary rules.
I feel as if I could go on forever about this short and very sweet graphic novel. I like that Annie and her mother have chubbier bodies, as well as being portrayed as active. Her mother was a cheerleader in high school just like Annie, and Annie appreciates gymnastics. Growing up, I never saw that many bigger bodies shown in a positive or even neutral light. It’s refreshing to see now. The dynamics of Annie and BeeBee’s friendship and budding romance are absolutely delightful — the classic pairing of one tall, sunshine and rainbows persona with someone short, punk rock and grumpy (hits close to home). I definitely have a lot in common with Annie’s personality!
Despite touching on heavier themes, “Cheer Up” is light and captivating. I like that this isn’t so much a story of someone transitioning, but rather it’s just a story about a girl who happens to be Trans and what she socially has to go through. With a record number of anti-trans laws being created, I hope that books like “Cheer Up” will show people that Trans people are no threat — they’re just regular people living everyday life.
About the Author
Rashauna Herm (she/her) is a lifelong resident of Denver, Colorado and is a proud Black Queer. She is passionate about equality, Disco music, quoting ancient memes and petting cats. You can follow Rashauna on Twitter at @sk8tergrrrl666 or — if you’re lucky — you can catch her whipping around town on her roller skates!
