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It's been a while since I did this! More have probably come out since then.
Totally Joe by James Howe (2005) ***
More like this please: gay main character, not much happens, small-scale melodrama, light-hearted writing. This isn't THE book, the platonic ideal, as there are several parts of the book I find annoying... ( Read more... )
But the book definitely strikes a fun, cheerful tone (unlike some depressing gay YA books I could mention), and the writing is sometimes legitimately funny (less when Joe seems like he's trying to be funny, but some of his literary affectations, like the footnotes and the several parentheticals in a row, are very cute). A solid entry in the gay YA oeuvre.
Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger (2007) ***
This is the only other YA transgender book I've read other than LUNA, which was a disaster in a lot of ways, and it's big improvement. ( Read more... )
I suppose it's "revolutionary" enough that Grady is allowed to have and to express sexual desire, and not just be this weird genderless sexless eunuch-thing (although he does spend a lot of time LISTENING TO OTHER PEOPLE'S PROBLEMS WTF), and hooray, even, that he doesn't DIE or get EXILED at the end, but: the book comes so close to painting a likeable, active, non-victim-y, trans romantic hero that I'm all the more disappointed when it ultimately falters.
Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez (2001) ****
While this book is sort of one-trick pony in that it pits its three leads against every gay issue and only gay issues--their gayness takes up SO MUCH of their attention--it's sort of nice, in a way, to have a book which so purely hits each and every one of the m/m fic bingo squares. There's an intense hand-holding scene which is to die for, and some genuine doubt as to who will end up with who (it's your basic friend->friend->exotic crush-object triangle, and both the Pretty in Pink ending the Some Kind of Wonderful ending seem viable until quite late). ( Read more... )
I actually read the Rainbow sequels, too, and they were fairly consistent in quality and entertainingness.
Totally Joe by James Howe (2005) ***
More like this please: gay main character, not much happens, small-scale melodrama, light-hearted writing. This isn't THE book, the platonic ideal, as there are several parts of the book I find annoying... ( Read more... )
But the book definitely strikes a fun, cheerful tone (unlike some depressing gay YA books I could mention), and the writing is sometimes legitimately funny (less when Joe seems like he's trying to be funny, but some of his literary affectations, like the footnotes and the several parentheticals in a row, are very cute). A solid entry in the gay YA oeuvre.
Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger (2007) ***
This is the only other YA transgender book I've read other than LUNA, which was a disaster in a lot of ways, and it's big improvement. ( Read more... )
I suppose it's "revolutionary" enough that Grady is allowed to have and to express sexual desire, and not just be this weird genderless sexless eunuch-thing (although he does spend a lot of time LISTENING TO OTHER PEOPLE'S PROBLEMS WTF), and hooray, even, that he doesn't DIE or get EXILED at the end, but: the book comes so close to painting a likeable, active, non-victim-y, trans romantic hero that I'm all the more disappointed when it ultimately falters.
Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez (2001) ****
While this book is sort of one-trick pony in that it pits its three leads against every gay issue and only gay issues--their gayness takes up SO MUCH of their attention--it's sort of nice, in a way, to have a book which so purely hits each and every one of the m/m fic bingo squares. There's an intense hand-holding scene which is to die for, and some genuine doubt as to who will end up with who (it's your basic friend->friend->exotic crush-object triangle, and both the Pretty in Pink ending the Some Kind of Wonderful ending seem viable until quite late). ( Read more... )
I actually read the Rainbow sequels, too, and they were fairly consistent in quality and entertainingness.