Homo

Harris, Michael. Homo. James Lorimer and Company, 2013.

Wow. 144 pages of gay stereotypes. The gay kids get bullied at school and at a party. They almost don't get invited because the hosts are Christians who hate gays. One of the gay kids attempts suicide. The other one hooks up with a random guy who he later learns is HIV positive. The HIV positive dude tells the teen, "Don't look for a deep, long-lasting relationship. Hookups are all we get."

The message I got from this book is that gay guys should not "act gay" so they won't be bullied and that they should accept a sub-par existence because that's all they'll ever have. How depressing.

I am glad I got this book on the Kindle so I can't donate it to the library, because I wouldn't want anyone to read this.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley for the purposes of review. 

Rapture Practice

Hartzler, Aaron. Rapture Practice. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2013.

Aaron details his life in a fundamentalist Christian family, including attending a private Christian school, participating in neighborhood Good News club, and eventually questioning everything he's been taught.

I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of this book. I started reading it on my break at work and picked it up again as soon as I got home. The stories Aaron tells are so similar to what I experienced that I was interested to see how he escaped and how his family reacted.

But when Aaron gets in trouble at the end of his senior year for going to a party at a friend's house and drinking, he decides to be gracious to his family and allow them to believe what they want, even if he disagrees. I'm okay with that, but I had too many questions at the end of this book:

1. Did Aaron ever explain to his family that he doesn't believe what they do, and how did they react when he did?
2. Did he come out to them? At the end of the book he's sort-of figured out that he's gay, but nothing comes of it.
3. Did he go to Bible college as his parents wanted him to?
4. How is his relationship with his family now?
5. What does he believe now? Does he still identify as Christian, or is he identifying with another faith, or does he consider himself to be not religious?

This book was a great first half of the story. The portrayal of the fundamentalist family and school was quite accurate, although I was surprised they weren't at church more than he mentioned (I didn't read any instances of revival services or missions conferences). I could only give the book four stars, though, since I didn't have my questions answered - those questions were what I was hoping to read in the last portion of the book. This book would be good for people who want a picture of the Christian fundamentalist movement, but not so much for those who have been in it and want to see how someone else escaped, or for those who want more information on the gays vs. Christians debate, since that's barely mentioned in this book.

The New Normal

Little, Ashley. The New Normal. Orca Book Publishers, 2013.

Tamar's younger twin sisters died in a drunk driving accident several months ago. Now her dad is absorbed in his TV shows, her mom is obsessed with yoga, and Tamar is losing her hair, trying to keep her family together, and attempting to survive high school.

This book started out not-so-good, but it got a bit better as the book continued. I was frustrated with the main character since she didn't cut her parents much slack in the aftermath of her sisters' death. Also, why didn't she go to the doctor to see what was going on with her hair loss? I got the impression from Tamar's memories that her sisters were selfish jerks. She didn't seem to remember any happy times with them.

If you feel the need to add books about hair loss to your YA collection, this would be a good book to use. Otherwise, it's interesting enough for people who read everything, but not something I would keep in my collection for the long-term.

OCD, the Dude, and Me

Vaughn, Lauren. OCD, the Dude, and Me. Dial, 2013.

Danielle has OCD and has been sent to an "alternative" school where the learning environment is better for her. Something happened to her in junior high to trigger her OCD, but she doesn't like to think about that. This book consists of her writings - journal entries, correspondence with various people, and assignments for English class. We follow Danielle as she travels to England with her class, attends a socialization support group, and begs her aunt to rescue her from all the required activities in her life. Eventually, interesting things happen to Danielle and we do find out what happened to her to trigger her OCD.

First off, this girl doesn't seem like any character or genuine human being with OCD that I've ever met. Second, the book is random, scattered, and severely lacking in the plot department. I only kept reading so I could find out why there's a purple bowling ball on the cover. Yes, really. Third, if Danielle is at a special school, why don't any of her classmates have any disabilities?

This book was okay, but not really worth the time to read it. It's just too fluffy for a book that supposedly tackles some very serious issues.

Miss Fortune Cookie

Bjorkman, Lauren. Miss Fortune Cookie. Henry Holt and Co., 2012.

Erin lives in San Francisco where she spends time with her Chinese friends and writes a "Dear Abby" style blog under the name Miss Fortune Cookie. But Erin has trouble following her own advice, and when her friends' lives and her blog get mixed together, she's not sure what to do.

This book was not too bad. I enjoyed the San Francisco references, especially the goofy passengers on the Muni, but the rest of the book wasn't super-enjoyable. It wasn't bad, but it didn't stand out as wonderful or awesome or anything. Because of the interesting cultural references both to Asian-American families and to the city of San Francisco, I'd probably keep this one on my shelf. It's a more upbeat companion to Bitter Melon.