Da’Quan figures that if he could be one of the popular kids, he might be able to attract the attention of the lovely Ashantay. Much to his amazement, Da’Quan finds a stranger in his room who offers him the gift of channeling other people. Popular people. This should give him a great shot at Ashantay. But each time he channels someone for their cool trait — such as playing basketball — Da’Quan gets an unwanted trait as well. Somehow, he just can’t get the perfect person to channel. But, as he discovers in the end, he may not really need to.
The song, “Cool Kids,” was a collaborative effort of the siblings that make up the band Echosmith (Jamie, Noah, Sydney and Graham Sierota,) along with Jeffery David and Jesiah Dzwonek. The lyrics are striking in their simplicity and precision:
I wish that I could be like the cool kids
‘Cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in
I wish that I could be like the cool kids
Like the cool kids
Watching adorable Sydney Sierota sing about wanting to be a cool kid feels a bit Twilight Zonish, but the overall emotion of the music video is joyous acceptance.
-Diane Colson, currently reading Some Assembly Required: The Not-So-Secret Life of a Transgender Teen by Arin Andrews