His dad better have the realness. But his dad did not. Sascha leaned against the bar next...

Jonah: [during the "What Are You Reading?" segment] Have you ever spied on your parents? Well, a boy named Sascha does in the book I read this week, called "Sascha's Dad Does Drag." One night, Sascha's lying in bed when he hears "Clonk, clonk, clonk." He sneaks downstairs to see what the noise was. Is it a woodpecker? Is it a hammer? No. It's His dad, in size 11 platform heels, bad padding, and a cheap Supremes wig. His mom says, "Good luck, honey!" and His dad walked out the door. But Sascha, quiet as a mouse, snuck into the back seat and hid under a blanket. Then they drove, and drove, and drove. Then they got to the Duplex, and Sascha saw a sign that said "Amateur Drag Night." Sascha knew that the Duplex meant one thing: His dad better have the realness. But His dad did not. Sascha leaned against the bar next to some vicious queens. His dad went into a low-rent version of Mariah Carey's "Vision of Love," and the queens pounced. "She should take her 1997 worn-out drag to the Museum of Natural History, because that is a dinosaur!" And even though Sascha was embarrassed, he couldn't deny they were right to throw shade. Sascha went outside to see His dad dragging a roller suitcase. "Dad, I didn't know you did drag!" Sascha says. "Because you don't. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, because like a chubby queen in a corset, the truth always has a way of spilling out." The rest of the book is them updating his tired act, and even though His dad doesn't win the Astoria Glamour Drag Ball, it's still pages of fun. My one critique is that it focuses too much on the New York drag scene, and not the West Coast and Southern houses. If you want to read a book that I give five out of five pencils, pick up "Sascha's Dad Does Drag and the Act Needs Work" at your local library