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Rafe is a pretty average gay high school kid. He doesn't get bullied, he doesn't get beaten up, and his friends and family accept him just the way he is. The problem is that what he IS seems to equal the fact that he's GAY, and that's all anyone sees. He's Rafe, the gay kid. So he decides to go off to the faraway east coast to an all-boys prep school, un-gay. He's not straight all of a sudden, but he decides that he's not going to "be" gay either.
Unfortunately, Rafe falls in love with one of his new friends, a guy that quickly becomes one of the best friends he's ever had in his whole life. And when their relationship starts to get, um, intense, Rafe know he needs to come clean. But he also knows that telling the truth could cost him his happiness. Or is it the lies that have cost him everything?
Recommended to anyone - there is enough humor here to balance out the harshness of the situation, and everyone is forced to answer the question of self-acceptance.
Period .8 refers to Mr. Lodgson's class, where honesty is the best policy and everything is confidential, where you can talk about anything or nothing, and where you can skip without getting in trouble, but nobody ever does. Period .8 is the "safe place." Mr. Logs has respect for his students, and they have respect for each other. Everybody trusts that what they see is the truth.
Everything starts to go to hell when Paulie admits to his girlfriend Hannah that he cheated on her. He loves her and wants to explain himself, that it really isn't what she thinks, but she won't give him a chance at redemption. She's pissed, and he should definitely have known better. But as the story begins to unravel, more and more questions are raised without any clear answers. There's one guy, Arnie Stack, who seems to want to reassure everyone that everything is fine, and Paulie is convinced that Arnie knows more than he's letting on. And when Arnie sets his sights on the now single Hannah, Paulie sets out to prove it.
This is a mystery of a different sort, combining the traditional with the psychological, and mixing our emotions up all along the way. There's really intrigue here, and more than anyone's fair share of danger. It seems that nobody and nothing is off limits.
Recommended to high school readers. There are lots more titles available from classic YA author Chris Crutcher.
Doug's life is not fun. Home life consists of his amazing mom, his distant and abusive father, his bully older brother, and another brother who is off fighting in Vietnam. School consists of bullies and a few close friends. When Doug's father decides to move the family to Marysville in hopes of a better job (one that won't fire him), Doug even loses those few friends. Now school consists of students and teachers who think that Doug's brother is a thief and that Doug's no good either. Good thing for Lil Spicer or life might be just about the most miserable that it could be.
You might not think that a pretty girl, Audubon's Birds of America, baseball, and Jane Eyre have a whole lot in common, but in this case you might be wrong. Those few things might be the best things in the whole wide world. At least for one teenage boy who is just trying to find some good in the world.
Recommended to all middle grade readers. This title is great for boys who might not love to read, and who also aren't necessarily into sports or cars or other "guy stuff." But all ages and all interests are sure to get something out of Doug's experience and his perseverance.
Reviewed by kate the librarian.
We read this story in alternating chapters, both from Robbie's perspective. We learn about Robbie's current situation in real-time, while he also catches us up on the story that has lead to his arrival at the Great Oaks School.
At Great Oaks, Robbie has his own room, but other than a desk, chair, paper, and pencil, he has nothing else. A bed is brought in when it is bedtime, and taken out when it is time to wake. His shoes and socks have been taken. His door remains locked from the outside. His only speaking company is Mr. Lester who has him make lists, but won't explain the rules. Great Oaks School is the End of the Line for Robbie . . . until he starts to unravel the mess of his life. But how does one begin to apologize for killing his only friend?
Recommended to most middle grade and older readers. This a poignant story from a first-time author, and it will make you sad, angry and frustrated . . . but ultimately, it will also remind you of the humanity that exists - and lapses - in all of us.
Reviewed by kate the librarian.
"Stupid Fast : The summer I went from a joke to a jock" definitely illustrates Felton Reinstein's life one high school summer. But it doesn't even begin to encompass all that he goes through in those short - um, long - months.
Felton has grown. All of a sudden, he has hair everywhere, his body is catching up to his ginormous hands, and he is stupid fast. A few weeks in the locker room with weights and he is stupid strong, too. Everybody notices, but Felton still pictures himself as a small, weak kid, with nothing much to offer anybody. The football team latches onto him, Aleah - the daughter of a professor staying in town for the summer semester - definitely notices him, the crazy lady at the nursing home screams every time she seems him, and he seems to be driving his mother further and further into Crazy Town. Felton doesn't even begin to know how to start to figure life out. So he runs.
This is an original novel with an original voice. Felton experiences every single sort of growing pain possible, making him both a frustrating and sympathetic character. This one is perfect for young teenage boys, despite the f-bombs, and should let them know that life moves on, people aren't always what they seem, and maybe their lives aren't all that bad.
Reviewed by kate the librarian.
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