‘The Difference Between You and Me’ by Madeleine George
Posted on April 16, 2012 by Lydia Harris in Reviews, Young Adult
Jesse, an out and proud high school aged lesbian, makes use of every computer font available to design a manifesto she papers over the high school walls. The manifesto, that composes the book’s introduction, demands justice for “Weirdos, Freaks, Queer Kids, Revolutionaries, Nerds, Dweebs, Misfits . . . ” and other “labeled” individuals. The reader is drawn into the book, wondering which term(s) apply to Jesse herself. (more…)
‘Getting Somewhere’ by Beth Neff
Posted on April 11, 2012 by Vicki Bloom in Reviews, Young Adult
Neff’s debut novel tackles issues of coming of age, belonging, following your dreams, and redemption, while wrestling with the realities of societal homophobia. Add in the strong feelings and complex social negotiations of teens trying to make their way in a world that seems to already have rejected them, and adults that struggle with being both role models and real people with their own histories and challenges, and the result is a story that is compassionate and emotionally deep, hopeful but realistic. (more…)
‘Brooklyn, Burning’ by Steve Brezenoff
Posted on December 27, 2011 by Isaiah Vianese in Reviews, Young Adult
Steve Brezenoff’s latest novel tells the story of a street-kid in Brooklyn accused of burning down a local warehouse. However, the more interesting storyline in Brooklyn, Burning (Carolrhoda Books) has little to do with the fire, but focuses on the protagonist’s love interests, particularly a newly arrived street-kid who is also a gifted singer. (more…)
‘Boyfriends with Girlfriends’ by Alex Sanchez
Posted on November 29, 2011 by Lydia Harris in Reviews, Young Adult
Alex Sanchez is one of, if not, the most successful authors specializing in fiction for gay young adults. He has won numerous awards, including the Lambda Literary award for So Hard To Say. He also is a trained guidance counselor and spends much of his non-writing time traveling to assist other adults in teaching young adults about tolerance and self-acceptance. Perhaps his best known novels are the Rainbow Boys trilogy, an exceptional set of novels about three gay teenagers who are not only coming of age, but are also faced with the difficulties of coming out.
In this current novel, Sanchez deals with the issue of friendship: between straight/gay/lesbian/bisexual teens, and the interplay of friendship and/or sexual definitions when romance, self-esteem, and culture enter the picture. The four teen characters of Boyfriends with Girlfriends include Lance (openly gay), Allie (heterosexual—or is she—with a steady boyfriend), Sergio (who defines himself as bisexual, although he has only dated girls), and Kimiko (a semi-closeted lesbian). As the novel progresses each of the four continually try to understand how their identities, mores, values, and beliefs intersect with those of their friends and (potential) lovers. Furthermore, the issues of being out/closeted and what happens when you find yourself questioning your sexual identity are also tackled within this novel.
In some ways, there are almost too many themes interacting in this novel. Yet they point out the fact that when young adults deal with self-identity, self esteem, and sexuality, these issues do not occur in a vacuum. They are not singular but interactive in their environment. It is difficult to understand how teenagers define terms like bisexual and think they should apply it not only to themselves but to others. Does the old saying “Bi now, gay later” apply to teens still trying to define and understand themselves? Does describing one’s self as gay, lesbian, straight, or bisexual true, real, and indelible, written in stone, or can these definitions change over time, within or without cultures, or who you would describe as friends, cohorts, family? As in his other works, Sanchez does not provide answers; often he truly presents questions for consideration.
In this novel the relationship between gay /bi boys and straight girls is raised. Although the title implies this is central to the novel, one may feel the title is inaccurate. And perhaps one of the most baffling questions is the failure to explicitly relay why relationships between boyfriends and girlfriends truly exist.
Sanchez’s novel attempts to address a number of issues for teens. What is particularly successful in this novel is Sanchez’s ability to address these questions in the language of young adults. His facility with the language of teenagers, whether gay or straight, promotes sensitivity and understanding. As a writer he is flawless: changing perspectives almost seamlessly; writing vivid descriptions; and, exhibiting his sincere, accurate, and valid portrayals of young adults caught in conflict.
For Sanchez lovers, this book is fulfilling and as enriching as any of his other novels. For those unfamiliar with Sanchez, this book will make you want to search out his previous books. For anyone interested in young adult books, of any kind, this novel will become one you can enjoy and recommend without hesitation.
Boyfriends with Girlfriends
By Alex Sanchez
Simon & Schuster BFYR
Hardback,9781416937739, 217pp
April 2011
‘Beauty Queens’ by Libba Bray
Posted on November 15, 2011 by Shanna Shadoan in Reviews, Young Adult
Don’t be misled by the bikini-clad model on the cover of Beauty Queens (Scholastic Press); this is decidedly not a simple hot-girls-on-an-island story. Author Libba Bray, a Printz award-winner, addresses corporate abuse of power, the culture of fear that is perpetuated through advertising, and restrictive gender binaries in this engaging book. (more…)
‘Money Boy’ by Paul Yee
Posted on October 31, 2011 by L. Michael Gipson in Reviews, Young Adult
The chronicle of the displaced, teenage sex worker is such a staple of gay film and literature that he’s almost his own genre. From Richie McMullen’s Enchanted Youth to Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho, the young, inflammable rebel’s trials, tribulations, and “liberation” loom large in the creative mind with harsh lessons and dark, sexual adventures on urban mean streets. (more…)
‘Smoketown’ by Tenea D. Johnson
Posted on September 19, 2011 by Anthony Darden in Fiction, Reviews, Speculative, Young Adult
In her debut novel, Smoketown (Blind Eye Books), Tenea D. Johnson magically creates a verdant jungle from what was once a Kentucky holler. The city of Leiodare, formally Middlesboro, Kentucky, serves as this narrative’s anchor. Essentially an environmental side-effect of climate change, Leiodare is a combination of lush forest and futuristic modern technology. The story is set twenty-five years beyond the 21st century, and twenty-five years past the devastating effects of a virus outbreak believed to have been caused by birds. (more…)
‘The Evolution of Ethan Poe’ by Robin Reardon
Posted on September 14, 2011 by Brandon Will in Reviews, Young Adult
With The Evolution of Ethan Poe (Kensington Books), Robin Reardon provides a fresh, engaging example of why the coming out story is not irrelevant, instead a crucial, continuing story with countless raw variations. Yet narrator Ethan’s coming out is only part of Evolution’s larger narrative focusing on a rural Maine town’s debate over integrating Intelligent Design, the religious pseudo-science that dismisses evolution, into public school science classrooms. One thing Ethan Poe, a caring, sweet, healthily self-obsessed teenager accepts when surrounded by everyone’s problems is “it’s not all about him.” (more…)
‘From Where We Sit: Black Writers Write Black Youth’ edited by Victoria A. Brownworth
Posted on August 24, 2011 by L. Michael Gipson in Fiction, Reviews, Young Adult
Young adult fiction has come a ways since the blonde-haired, blue-eyed yesterdays of Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley High and the prolific Christopher Pike and R.L. Stine thriller mills of paranormal and “whodunit?” teen mysteries. Today’s YA literature—like National Book Award Finalist Walter Dean Myer’s Monster, Coretta Scott King Book Award Winner Angela Johnson’s First Part Last and LA Times Book Winner Coe Booth’s Tyrell—is highly celebrated, dog-eared work that is likely to be set in harsh urban environments (more…)
‘Love Drugged’ by James Klise
Posted on August 16, 2011 by David Purse in Reviews, Young Adult
Lambda Literary Award Finalist
If you could change who you are, would you? Should you? This is both the tag line and the central theme to James Klise’s debut novel, Love Drugged (Flux).
The story follows fifteen year old Jamie Bates, a high school student who is desperate to conceal his biggest secret – that he is gay. (more…)
