One Man Guy

Barakiva, Michael. One Man Guy. 2014

Alex didn't get high enough grades to stay on the honor track, so his parents have decided he will forego tennis camp and family vacations to go to summer school with kids who won't pass to the next grade otherwise. Alex is less than excited about this until he notices one of the guys in his class. Ethan is Alex's opposite: he doesn't care about school, spends his free time skateboarding, and breaks rules that he doesn't agree with. Ethan is exciting, and Alex finds himself drawn to him. But what will his very strict parents say when they find out he's been skipping school to go on dates with a boy.

I enjoyed this book for the picture it gave of the American-Armenian culture, which is not a culture with which I was familiar. I was also glad for the personality differences between Alex and Ethan and that neither of them was a stereotypical gay boy who spends time participating in musical theater, etc. I loved that this story is more about two kids who fall in love and have to surpass cultural barriers than it is about the fact that they're both boys. Also, Alex's family cracked me up. They would have made me crazy, had I lived with them, but they cracked me up.

Recommended for: young adults
Red Flags: none
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars