I grew up a closeted gay in a very straight world. I enjoy reading both true and fictional stories about how others grew up and came out. I decided to write about coming-out and coming-of-age because this mixture of topics just didn’t exist when I was a teen. The books that I have listed here are ones that I feel capture both the realism of what is, what we wished had been, and the hope of what could be—a world where "coming out" wouldn’t be necessary.
It is about high schoolers navigating the treacherous hallways of school–classes, friendships, and all the other normal hurdles. Some teens discover that they have more dangerous problems; what happens when you are attracted to your guy friends and not girls like everyone else?
Travis moves to a new town and school in the middle of the year. He's the mysterious new kid in a new place without his parents. Travis was out to himself but not to anyone around him. Brian is a budding soccer star on the varsity team. Life is running smoothly and as expected–until tragedy strikes, throwing his life into turmoil. Cory, Brian's lifelong best friend, is struggling with new feelings and new opportunities. None of their lives are happening the way they thought; nothing is the way it was–Except for Cough Drops.
To say I enjoyed this is an understatement to the highest degree. From the first paragraph, Doyles' prose grabbed me, slapped me, and demanded to be appreciated. I laughed out loud, and I loved it. Doyles' ability to turn a phrase had me in love with his prose so much that I immediately ordered it in paperback for my shelf since I had originally purchased it as an eBook.
Speaking of "in love," that’s what happened as I got to know Dean and Ben. Two very different boys with two very similar problems – both liked boys, and neither was ready for that to be known.
Coming out stories aren’t new, but Simon Doyle makes it feel new for me with expertly drawn characters, tightly plotted storylines, and strong dialogue. I really loved getting to know Ben, Dean, and even the prick Alex in Snow Boys!
Dean O’Donnell is a wallflower with a secret and a voice that could steal the show. Preferring to blend into the background at his high school, his world tilts on its axis when he is chosen for a major solo in the upcoming Christmas choir performance. His quiet life is further disturbed when he receives a Secret Santa gift, and an unexpected friendship forms.
Ben Hunter is the boy next door, well-liked but lonely. He wrestles with unspoken feelings for Dean and a family crisis that’s tearing him apart. When he takes a job at the local cinema to help…
I loved the mixture of third and first person that this story is told in. The main character Dillon is both fun, sad, and imminently well-drawn. His harrowing dash from Perth to Sydney, his relationships with Amy, Pastor Pete, wonderful Dixie, and Stephen, and his sheer will to be his authentic self, had me both scared and happy for him.
I loved the mixture of coming-out and coming-of-age with some thriller elements thrown in, not something that I see a lot of in coming-of-age novels.
A teenager's quest for freedom leads him on the streets and into the path of a local serial killer.
15-year-old Dillon is on the run.
Until recently he enjoyed friends, family, and the safe confines of a religious cult. But when a confession ignites the wrath of his church Dillon escapes ... and he's about to discover a vast world beyond the private walls of his former life.
Once in Sydney he faces a bustling city full of dreams and nightmares. Desperate to survive, Dillon is lured to the red-light district where strangers pay for pretty boys.
I fell deeply for Brian and identified with him. I wasn’t ever a quarterback or a football player, but I was deeply in the closet in high school, all the while pining for other guys. I admired boys like Landon, unafraid to be authentic in the face of bigotry and hate.
This is a coming-out, coming-of-age story quite unlike most out there and certainly not for the faint of heart. Its subject matter is tragic and timely and frames and focuses on the coming-out and shedding of boyhood for both of the main characters. I laughed, I cried, and it was definitely better than Cats!
BrianYou’ll make it out of here, Brian. I swear.I had everything—school quarterback, popular with girls, and my dad was proud of me. I told myself it didn’t matter no one knew the real me. And then I nearly died. Landon saved my life. He’s the bravest guy I know. He came out a few years ago, proud and fierce, and he ran into gunfire to help others. Me, I’m a mess. Can’t even stand to be in a room with the curtains open. But here’s the thing about losing it all: You get a chance to start over and be…
I loved this book because Jay Bell has done, successfully, what authors are warned against – have a large cast of characters. Each one of his characters is fully drawn and stands apart from any of the others. I love the variety of backgrounds, cultures, and orientations; each character’s thread wound expertly into the story's overall tapestry.
I was grateful to learn that there are more books in the series because I didn’t want the story to end when I reached the last page!
The Pride series is intended for mature teenagers and nostalgic adults who enjoy sex-positive stories, realistic relationships, and gorgeous guys.
What’s it like growing up in the 90s? Let’s ask the students of Pride High:
Anthony Cullen: My life would be perfect if I wasn’t in the closet. And in love with my straight best friend. Do you think he’ll ever notice me?
Omar Jafari: I’m flunking out of most of my classes, but hey, a girl talked to me. And she’s like… insanely pretty! So maybe I should stop secretly hooking up with a dude.
Love gone wrong. I grew to really care about Lars (Conner... somewhat), and I turned the pages because why the love had gone wrong was a mystery until late in the novel. I thought Lars’ pining away over a boy he cared about but hadn’t talked to in three years was compelling, especially in an age where we are encouraged to "move on" or "get over it."
I loved this story and plan to read it again soon!
Science, Shakespeare, and superheroes come together in this heartwarming tale of friendship, love, and second chances
This Valentine's Day, sixteen-year-old Lars Lofgren is crabby. Everyone is in love and reminding him he isn't. Things proceed from bad to worse when Connor Perry, Lars's former best friend and first crush who hasn't spoken with him in three years, starts dating social media star Jaden-Dominic Choi.
Joining an illustrious cast of characters for a school production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, the former friends suddenly find themselves back in the same social circle, but it's a complicated affair as Lars can't seem to…
Bold, funny, and shockingly honest, Ambidextrous is like no other memoir of 1950s urban childhood.
Picano appears to his parents and siblings to be a happy, cheerful eleven-year-old possessed of the remarkable talent of being able to draw beautifully and write fluently with either hand. But then he runs into the mindless bigotry of a middle school teacher who insists that left-handedness is "wrong," and his idyllic world falls apart.
He uncovers the insatiable appetites of a trio of neighboring sisters, falls for another boy with a glue-sniffing habit, and discovers the hidden world of adult desire and hypocrisy. Picano exits his boyhood sooner than most, but with this sense of self intact and armed with a fuller understanding of the world, he is about to enter.
Controversial when it first came out, Ambidextrous was burned on the docks of London in 1989 by Her Majesty Inland Service and decried by many. This reprint, with a Foreword by the author, discusses its banned book history and how it has become a classic depiction used by professionals involved in modern childhood studies.
Bold, funny, and shockingly honest, Ambidextrous is like no other memoir of 1950s urban childhood. Picano appears to his parents and siblings to be a happy, cheerful eleven-year-old, possessed of the remarkable talent of being able to draw beautifully and write fluently with either hand. But then he runs into the mindless bigotry of a middle school teacher who insists that left-handedness is "wrong," and his idyllic world falls apart. He uncovers the insatiable appetites of a trio of neighboring sisters, falls for another boy with a glue-sniffing habit, and discovers the hidden world of adult desire and hypocrisy. Picano…
