If Boys Could Hold Hands

Lavallee, David. If Boys Could Hold Hands. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012.

Garrett is a high school senior - on the basketball team, has a steady girlfriend and a solid group of friends.  And then Luis moves into town.  Garrett begins to wrestle with his feelings for Luis and the implications of coming out in a small town and finds that the greatest obstacle to being his true self is himself.

It took me a little while to get into this particular story. The first chapter occurs 27 years before the rest of the book, and that threw me for a loop until I realized what was going on.  Also, the author does an excellent job of description and narration, giving background details and describing the environment, so the story proceeds more slowly than I usually expect.  If you are the type of reader who appreciates lots of description (like in Annabel, The White Darkness, or the Lord of the Rings trilogy), you will really enjoy the journey through this book.  I enjoyed these descriptions, but occasionally became impatient for the action to begin again.

I enjoyed the story for itself, and would recommend it for high school students, especially those who seem to read everything they can get their hands on.  This book is also appropriate for adults, and those who grew up in the northeastern United States will appreciate the geographic references and the descriptions.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads program for the purposes of review.