Reviewed by guest blogger Jill Maddox

Steve Berman, 2007. I don’t normally read horror stories, but after meeting Steve Berman at Dragon Con in 2009, I decided to give this book a try. I have always been sensitive to anything remotely paranormal or creepy. I had a hard time sleeping several nights. I pushed through the insomnia and terror and fell in love with the book and the ending. The truth that rings through out the book will soothe the souls of the readers., young and old alike.

After suffering a personal crisis, I opened the book and read it again, cover to cover in one day. The second time around I found the book to really be a romance wrapped in black eyeliner and dusty second hand clothing, sprinkled with gay romance and lonely ghosts.

A must read for anyone looking for something more substantial in the young adult literature market.

Reviewed by guest blogger Jill Maddox

Charlie David, 2009.  This first novel feels autobiographical, and while I can understand the urge to fictionalize one’s life and jazz it up somewhat, I think that urge should be resisted.  Boy Midflight illustrates why: most people’s lives simply aren’t that interesting. The novel follows 19-year-old Ashley, a gay model (the author’s an actor), through a few months of clubbing and trying to get laid.  At the end he falls in love. Boring, and the writing doesn’t help; Mr. David should stick to acting.  Still, this book’s salacious cover and low page count might put it in the hands of reluctant gay readers. The cover is probably too much for most school libraries, but some publics with very high demand for gay fiction might want to pick this up.

Reviewed by guest blogger Annie Gage

Louis Flint Ceci, 2009.  An intriguing prologue hints at the secrets that are to be revealed in Comfort Me: A heterosexual couple argues in a car stopped on train tracks in tiny Croy, Oklahoma. The girl, Susan, escapes before a train collides it, but the boy, Andy, makes no effort to save himself and dies in what the town assumes was an accident.  The town’s judgment when Susan turns out to be pregnant with Andy’s child prompts her to leave town, determined that she and her child will not return.

Fifteen years later, that child, Mally (short for Malachi) returns to Croy to care for his ailing grandfather.  Initially taunted by other boys, Mally eventually makes friends with Randy, whose best friend Red resents their friendship, and Joanie, whose family has its own secrets. It is implied that Andy was gay, that Mally is gay, and that football-playing Red is gay.

Ostensibly a story about the comfort and courage that can be found in good friends, Comfort Me is an excellent example of why an intricate plot is not enough to make a good book. I believe the point of view of this book would be called Omniscient, Shifting. While Mally is clearly the central character, the narrator knows how all the characters feel and what they think, and speaks from the perspective of a number of them. This results in a lot of that fiction no-no, telling and not showing. Comfort Me is full of telling. As a result, the characters are flat and it is hard to care about them.

This book has a lot of valuable points to make about the damage that can be wrought by secrets, closets, homophobia and small-mindedness. It tells something beyond a coming out story. However, with its focus on plot and lack of attention to voice, setting, or rich sensory detail, it comes across as a promising early draft rather than a well-polished novel. I’m sorry Mr. Ceci couldn’t have revised his book a few more times and made the rest of it as rich as his plot.

Reviewed by guest blogger Annie Gage

Dale Peck, 2009.  Sprout Bradford is a gay teenager with green hair, an alcoholic dad, and a trailer for a home, all smack in the middle of Kansas.  He’s fairly well accepted at school, maybe because he owns all his oddities rather than trying to hide any of them.  Or maybe it’s because he really is pretty normal next to Ruthie, his best friend, whose scrawniness, wedge-cut hair, and eighties obsession are just a few of her defining quirks.

For the first half of the novel, Sprout and Ruthie are inseparable, except on Saturdays when Sprout goes to visit his (also alcoholic) teacher, who’s prepping him for a statewide essay contest.  This involves a lot of practice writing, excerpts from which provide much of the info about both Ruthie’s and Sprout’s backgrounds.  But by the second half, Ruthie has been summarily replaced by Ty.  Ty is a legitimately weird new kid with family problems of his own, and soon he and Sprout are, if not boyfriends, at least sharing secrets and hooking up regularly.

And then there’s Ian Abernathy. That’s the name of the now-stock character in any gay teen novel: the outwardly-homophobic-but-secretly-gay jock.  He taunts Sprout early on with the usual slurs, but ends up making out with him, literally in a closet, repeatedly throughout their shared adolescence.  Only Ty puts an end to this - well, and Ruthie, who ends up with Ian.

The main characters of Sprout are complex and appealing (except for Ian), and the supporting cast has depth. The plot is coming-of-age, but who doesn’t like a good bildungsroman? Highly recommended.

Published simultaneously in ALA’s GLBT Round Table Newsletter.

Reviewed by guest blogger Kaye Moore

Alex Sanchez, 2007.

Reviewed by guest blogger Kaye Moore

Robin Reardon, May 2008. Taylor Adams is an evangelical Christian who is totally down with Jesus Christ.  He is also gay, and completely comfortable with that.  However, since his family and small conservative hometown are not down with gay Christians (or gays in general), he is not loud and proud.  He is quietly proud.  Taylor is madly in love with his boyfriend Will, and after his parents try to fix him up with one Christian girl too many, he finally snaps and comes out to his parents.  Their response is to send him to a Christian re-education center, where God will “heal” him of his desires.

At the center, which is named Straight to God, secrets start to come out about the dubious successes the center has produced with their gay and lesbian teens, which include suicides and the sexual abuse and murders of these teens by the head pastor.  Luckily for Taylor, he keeps his sanity by being admitted to a secret society of revolutionary Christian teens that discuss the Bible freely and feel that God made gay and lesbian teens on purpose, and there is no sinful mistake there.

One thing I really liked about this book is that the theological ideas of Taylor and his friends were really well-developed, but they still sounded like conversations that kids might actually have.  It seemed surprising to me that Taylor, having been raised in such a gay-unfriendly church, was so self-assured about his relationship with God, but I was willing to think of him that way since he was so smart about it all.  Also, the moderate allies that Taylor and his friends developed showed a fair representation of many mainstream Christians, who may be open but just haven’t challenged old ideas yet.  The villains though?  They were completely over the top.  I couldn’t put this book down, but when I came to the part when the lusty and deranged pastor lassoed Taylor, I think my eyes may have rolled a little.

This book would appeal to teens that enjoy reading about kids in extreme situations, but I think they would have to have some interest in religion, since it pervades every single page of this book.  There are some brief but graphic depictions of oral sex and masturbation, as well as an attempted male rape scene which readers may want to be aware of.   Overall, the title is a quick and compelling read, with likable characters and interesting theology, and recommended for all public library collections.

Reviewed by guest blogger Kaye Moore

Reviewed by guest blogger Jonathan Drescher

Rigoberto González, April 2009.  Meet the Fierce Foursome - Maui, Trini, Isaac, and Liberace - the founding members of The Mariposa Club.  To memorialize their final year in high school, the boys set out to create Caliente Valley High School’s first LGBT organization.  Their hope is to create something that future students like themselves can belong to, and to let the four of them leave something important behind before they all go their separate ways.  The first semester of their senior year is filled with hardship for the four gay boys, even as they try to get the Mariposa club started.  In a small, relatively intolerant town, life isn’t easy for those who are different.

The story is narrated by Maui, and through his eyes we follow the Fierce Foursome as they deal with:

-Family relationships (some even abusive)

-Community homophobia

-Life path decisions (college, work, love)

-High school

-Violence and tragedy

The voice of the novel rings true through most of the narrative.  The reader gets involved in the lives of these young boys and the secondary characters in their lives.  It speaks well to both the isolation and camaraderie of this tiny group as the only boys who have come out in their high school.  Some of the conflict seems cliché — perhaps even a little forced — but it serves to help the novel hit on many different problems this age group could face, especially as an LGBT teen.  Recommended for high school readers and above.

Reviewed by guest blogger Jonathan Drescher

Cheryl Rainfield, March 2010.  This traditional problem novel manages to be both gruesome and cookie-cutter.  It addresses teen Kendra’s cutting, her parents’ financial problems, her crush on sexy and sassy Meghan, and her quest to remember who raped her when she was a child.  Anyone who’s ever read anything about childhood sexual abuse will be unsurprised to learn that Kendra’s father is the culprit; there should have been some sort of red herring or, conversely, creepiness in the dad from the beginning, but there isn’t. That was a mistake.

The relationship with Meghan, the most appealing character, is sweet. What isn’t is the Teacher as Savior trope, in this case (as in so many others) related to Art as Savior.  Yes, Kendra’s escape from cruel reality is drawing, and the In-Tune Teacher is her art teacher. This book could be a guide to the formula of a problem novel.  It also might just resonate with the many readers who are interested in these themes.

Reviewed by guest blogger Nari Avanesian

Drew Ferguson, September 2008. The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie the Second is about Charles James Stewart, Jr.  Charlie has never quite fit in at his high school in a small town in Illinois. Tall and socially awkward, Charlie is the epitome of the typical school nerd. While his parents fight, Charles plays soccer to keep himself out of the house and out of their hair. Never formally accepted by his teammates, Charlie has a hard time trying to fit in anywhere until a new boy at school enters into Charlie’s life and changes everything. With a wry and self-debasing sense of humor, Charlie takes us through three hectic months of his life in a diary-style novel.

Told through the perspective of a whiny, confused, caring, naïve and willful teenage boy, the book starts immediately with Charlie being open about being a gay teen. It isn’t so much as a coming-out story as it is a growing-up story. There are many, many issues and conflicts that Charlie encounters through a short time in this book. He deals with bullies, an overbearing and pushy father, a hot-tempered boyfriend, pending divorce, euthanasia, relationships, homophobia and more. Although there were moments of homophobia throughout the book with his schoolmates, I felt that Charlie was the scapegoat more for being a nerd than for being gay. Charlie’s wit and introspective narration made his story easy to follow, and easy to understand. He is a character that a lot of teens will relate to, gay or not.

While the book was a very engaging and amusing read, I felt that there were too many hot-topic issues covered in a short span of time and too neatly wrapped up by the end of the book.

Reviewed by guest blogger Nari Avanesian

Pat Lowery Collins, May 2009.  I read a lot of queer YA fiction, and I confess to growing weary of it sometimes; one can only read so many contemporary realistic gay teen novels, set in high schools and featuring closeted jocks, bitchy cheerleaders, and wacky theater kids.  This, then, was a breath of fresh air: it’s set in early-eighteenth-century Venice at the Ospedale della Pietá, the orphanage where Antonio Vivaldi trained young girls to sing and play various instruments.

The story is narrated by three of the girls.  Rosalba longs for life outside the orphanage, and particularly for boys.  Luisa is the diva, with a fabulous voice, a big ego, and (alone among the children) a real live mother who visits from time to time. Anetta is our lesbo heroine - she has a huge crush on Luisa that, of course, she can’t voice or even identify with, considering the era.  She knows she has a yearning to be close to Luisa but can’t relate that to the sort of desire Rosalba has for boys.  Luisa is annoyed by Anetta’s affections, but then Rosalba wisely advises that Anetta lay off, and this brings the pair closer.  It’s a lovely tale of unrequited love, and the backdrop is unique.  Highly recommended for all public and most school libraries, but do be aware that there is a rape scene that ends in a pregnancy.