Banned Books

Marion Dane Bauer, Editor Am I Blue?: Coming Out from the Silence
    273 pp. HarperCollins
    Reviewed 7/94
Young adults announce to their parents that they are homosexual; parents and adolescents work to understand each other; and teenagers struggle with stereotyping and find love in the sixteen short stories in Bauer’s exciting, moving collection. While all the stories center on themes of coming to terms with homosexuality, they also are stories of love, coming of age, adventure, and self-discovery. In the title story by Bruce Coville, a boy confused about his sexual orientation is granted three wishes by his fairy godfather, and for twenty-four hours all gay Americans turn blue, revealing the strength of the gay population throughout the country. Lois Lowry’s story, “Holding,” is a powerful tale of a teenage boy admitting to his friend that his father’s live-in, Chris, is a man. As in many of the stories, the final cost of deception is much higher than the repercussions of truth. The stories vary in tone, style, and genre — from Jane Yolen’s fantasy, set in an all-female culture, to Nancy Garden’s modern, realistic story about high school members of a student group, the Gay-Straight-Bisexual Alliance, who struggle for the bravery to stand at a booth on Parents’ Night. Taken individually, the stories are strong statements about the resilience and hope of adolescents. As a group they form a powerful commentary about our social and emotional responses to homosexuality and our human need for love and acceptance. A remarkable and welcome collection. m.v.k.

Garret Freymann-Weyr My Heartbeat
    159 pp. Houghton
    Reviewed 5/02
Ellen has been “totally madly in love” with her brother’s best friend, James, for years. When a girl at her Manhattan private school mentions that James and Link are “like a couple,” Ellen, nonjudgmental but curious, asks the boys if it’s okay to agree. “Long silence. I can hear the blood rushing and beating around my ears. ‘Yes, it’s okay,’ James says finally. ‘It’s not okay’ Link says.” Freymann-Weyr sets up a riveting love triangle around Link’s sexual ambiguity and Ellen’s love for both James and her brother; the situation is intensified by their father’s strong but unspoken desire to have a straight son and by a family dynamic steeped in avoidance. The confrontation leads to a fight ending in James and Link’s estrangement; when James then turns to Ellen, she’s ecstatic but believes she’s only holding Link’s place. As in the author’s first novel, When I Was Older (rev. 1/01), one of the standout qualities is the protagonist’s fresh, vital voice. Ellen’s conversations with James, with her parents, and even the sometimes-evasive ones with Link sparkle with unexpected turns of phrase and an emerging philosophy; the book’s overall tone is more sophisticated than the usual YA fare. Once James starts to teach Ellen how to see (“Be precise. Be clear”) and her father nurtures this new talent with a gift of pencils and a drawing pad, Ellen gains a much-needed tool for navigating her oblique family and getting to know her troubled brother. And as Ellen learns how to let James love her for herself, she begins, through her art, to speak aloud the things her family leaves unsaid. anita l. burkam

Robie H. Harris It’s Perfectly Normal: A Book about Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health
    89 pp. Candlewick
    Reviewed 3/95
Illustrated by Michael Emberley. An up-to-date manual on the subject of human sexuality in all its manifestations, this book is bound to raise eyebrows, produce giggles, and arm younger adolescents with all the information they need to understand their developing bodies and to stay healthy. In a very approachable format, the book employs two cartoon characters, a bird and a bee, who keep up a running dialogue of comical patter to extend the text. It also makes full use of diagrams, cartoon panels, and lively cartoon sketches of naked bodies in all shapes and sizes, engaged in a range of activities that are as frankly honest as they are humorous. The book covers all aspects of human reproduction from sexual intercourse to birth, and touches on aspects of anatomy, puberty, heredity, family life, decision-making, and such controversial topics as birth control, sexual abuse, abortion, and AIDS. Wherever there is disagreement, careful attempts have been made to be as objective as possible. The book will serve as a useful tool in the sex education curriculum. n.v.

Mavis Jukes It’s a Girl Thing: How to Stay Healthy, Safe, and in Charge
    136 pp. Knopf/Random
    Reviewed 9/96
In the late 1950s eleven-year-old Mavis Jukes belonged to the Ladies’ Business Club with one other member, her mother. “The club rules were these: I could come into the bathroom when my mom was bathing or going to the bathroom — but she couldn’t when I was.” Jukes now applies these same rules to It’s a Girl Thing: she writes openly and candidly about female development and sexuality while respecting her adolescent readers’ sensitivities and sensibilities. After providing straightforward, matter-of-fact information about breasts, bras, and menstruation. Jukes reassures, “You will still be a girl for a long time after you start your period. . . . And your family will still love you in the same old way.” She later confides, “I think I was about fifteen when I discovered tampons and tried to put one in. ... Ouch! I poked and pushed, then gave up; it hurt too much!” Such confidences lend the spontaneity of girl-talk to this informative book, which nevertheless does not shy away from the dangers associated with contemporary adolescent sexuality. Unplanned pregnancies, sexual harassment, rape, and STDs are addressed with unmitigated frankness that will leave girls informed and in charge. Suggestions for further reading as well as a number of crises hotlines are included. Index. marilyn bousquin

H M. E. Kerr Deliver Us from Evie
    179 pp. HarperCollins
    Reviewed 1/95
Parr Burrman is used to hearing jokes about his older sister Evie. Evie is masculine, strong, and able to fix any piece of farm machinery. What Parr is not used to is his growing awareness that Evie may be a lesbian. As the story unfolds, Evie falls in love with Patsy Duff, the daughter of the most wealthy and influential family in the small Midwestern town. While that relationship remains a secret, the Burrmans try to set Evie up with a suitable local boy, and Mrs. Burrman encourages Evie to fix herself up and look more ladylike. As each family member learns the truth about Evie, each deals with it individually. For her mother, Evie’s sexual orientation is made more of a problem because her behavior and dress are so masculine; she is convinced that if one must be a lesbian, it is better not to “look it.” Evie’s father cannot discuss the situation at all — “this was an Evie he didn’t know” — and worries what Evie’s relationship to Patsy Duff will mean for the bank loan he needs from Patsy’s father. Parr, the self-absorbed adolescent, sees Evie’s life primarily in terms of what her choices will mean to his future. He had expected that Evie would stay on the farm, allowing him to get a university degree and leave farming, but, in the end, Evie and Patsy run away together to New York City. Through the novel the two young women build a strong, caring relationship, while Parr and his older brother both become involved with vapid girlfriends. Kerr develops a striking contrast between Evie’s more adult relationship with Patsy and the boys’ shallow, yet socially sanctioned, relationships. Kerr explores the ramifications of being gay in a small conservative community, the varied responses of family and friends, and the complex relationship between stereotypes and reality. The strong, multi-dimensional, well-plotted story addresses current issues with sensitivity, thoughtfulness, and a touch of humor. m.v.k.

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Alice on the Outside
    169 pp. Karl/Atheneum
    Reviewed 7/99
In this eleventh installment in the series, Alice and her friends have a lot to think about during the second half of eighth grade. From her divorced cousin Carol’s answer to the daring question Alice has been dying to ask (“What does intercourse really, really feel like for a woman?”), Alice learns that, unlike what she’s seen in the movies, sex is “a lot more complicated than [she] had thought.” Consciousness Raising Week, a schoolwide experiment, sheds light on the power of groups, leaving Alice with a new appreciation of differences and a deeper understanding of prejudice. And the eagerly anticipated eighth-grade semi-formal brings its own share of small dramas and excitement. Through the character of fourteen-year-old Alice, Naylor continues to explore the often-rocky terrain of sexuality and adolescent development with honesty and humor. Occasionally these issues seem to drive the plot — such as Alice’s textbook reaction to learning a new friend is gay and attracted to her — but for the most part Naylor’s underlying agenda takes a back seat to the narrative. Alice’s realistic dilemmas, confusion, and curiosity will resonate with readers; her strong sense of who she is and what she wants continues to guide her and this consistently dynamic series. kitty flynn

Janice E. Rench Understanding Sexual Identity: A Book for Gay Teens and Their Friends
    56 pp. Lerner
    Reviewed 3/91
The author’s straightforward, no-nonsense approach will go a long way toward helping straight and gay teenagers understand one another and themselves. Each chapter begins with a fictional, highly plausible scenario about a young gay person in conflict, followed by questions and answers which provide general information about relationships with friends and family, how organized religion perceives gays and lesbians, the divisiveness of homophobic behavior, and how to alert others to one’s sexual preferences. A brief section dealing with healthy sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases concentrates mainly on AIDS. Throughout, the author’s tone is nonjudgmental and open, but in no way could this slim volume be considered graphic; Rench is clear in stating that a sexual relationship is a great responsibility. Relevant addresses and hot-line telephone numbers are included; so is a well-balanced bibliography of adult and young adult books. Index. e.f.

Tara Roberts, Editor Am I the Last Virgin?: Ten African American Reflections on Sex and Love
    104 pp. Simon
    Reviewed 3/97
“My ideal woman is a woman with her tightly coiled 'fro...and in charge of her own soul” writes Roberts in her own contribution to this powerful and poignant collection. Ten young African-American women relate their personal stories — each one a bolt of emotion — in an open discussion about sex and love, something essential to “the very fabric of young women’s lives.” Following the opening affirmation that, for Roberts, virginity means strength and independence, the point of view shifts to a rape victim too terrified to leave her home; other contributors celebrate mother and daughter bonds, discover reasons to live after years of sexual abuse, reflect on the concept of the menstrual hut as a place of learning and change, define what love is not, speak honestly about coming out as a black lesbian, and explore the complex issues of abortion and the pain of AIDS. The concluding chapter from an incest survivor extends the message that there is no better comfort than a woman’s own love for herself. While readers may become impatient with the repetitive messages of healing and empowerment as well as with the similarity of tone, the inherent drama of the accounts and the honesty with which they’re told should guarantee the book a wide audience. A thirty-page resource directory lists hotlines and help centers nationwide; authors’ biographies are also included. amy chamberlain

William Taylor The Blue Lawn
    122 pp. Alyson
    Reviewed 5/99
Car crashes have figured ignominiously in the annals of gay-themed YA books; here, though, one provides a romantic catalyst: “The two of them laughed in one gigantic roaring of relief and defiance of danger. David braced himself against the dash and Theo, laughing more rationally now, reached out and covered David’s hand with his. ‘Sure you’re all right, kid?’ he asked.” In this striking departure for New Zealand humorist William Taylor (Agnes the Sheep), David and Theo are schoolmates whose mutual attraction is in turn denied, acknowledged, and deferred. Like Ursula LeGuin’s Very Far Away from Anywhere Else, this is a love story about the choice of abstinence, making the passion unfulfilled but all the more aching. “If I touched you right now, well, first off, I wouldn’t know much what to do and, second, I wouldn’t know how to stop doing what it is I didn’t know what to do if I did get started,” says David in a remarkable evocation of the barely articulated stumblings of first love. Although a Holocaust sub-theme (Theo’s grandmother, with whom he lives, is a survivor) tugs the story in a direction it doesn’t really need to go, for the most part the book stays fast and true to its lovers. There’s some macho swagger in the dialogue that wrestles authentically with more vulnerable exchanges, and the physical and emotional tension is electric. Boys brave enough to do so will see themselves here in all their awkward longing. r.s.

Jacqueline Woodson The House You Pass on the Way
    100 pp. Delacorte/BDD
    Reviewed 9/97
In a novel that feels far more expansive than its brief length, Woodson takes us inside the confused mind of her fourteen-year-old protagonist. Staggerlee’s internal sense of difference extends beyond the externals of being the daughter of a racially mixed marriage and the grandchild of a celebrated martyred couple who were victims of a bombing during the civil rights movement. Still, Staggerlee is unable to articulate her own sense of apartness. With the hushed intensity that marks this reflective book, Staggerlee can only identify her feelings as “something deeper — something lonely inside of her. Something quiet.” Setting her novel in the winter, a time of stilled emotion, Woodson allows Staggerlee to relive the past summer as an awakening to thoughts and feelings that have lain dormant, waiting to be voiced. When her cousin Trout came to visit for the summer, Staggerlee’s strong and growing feelings for her cousin confirmed her own suspicions that she, like Trout, might be gay. Now, only months later, Staggerlee holds a letter from Trout that reveals her cousin’s changing emotions and inability to speak about other than how she feels at the moment, a moment that holds not only a boyfriend, but also remembrance of a sweet summer with Staggerlee. Resisting the less subtle exploration of girl meets girl and falls in love and lives happily ever after (a model that has replaced the earlier lesbian novel that invariably ended in tragedy), Woodson crafts a more complex examination of gayness in the emerging adolescent. As Staggerlee wonders if someday there will be “someone she could whisper her life to,” the reader feels grateful that Woodson has whispered her lyrical story to us, a story still awaiting, like all young lives, its conclusion. s.p.b.

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