books for loan books to own
By Lisa Thalhimer

From Closet to Bookshelf Stories Take Up Tough Issues

This month, I look at three books that address the subject of homosexuality. All three are well-written and send a positive message about accepting differences in others as well as in ourselves.

Uncle Bobby’s Wedding (Putnam, March 2008) by Sarah S. Brannen is a picture book with a matter-of-fact view of gay marriage.
When Chloe’s Uncle Bobby announces his impending marriage to Jamie, everyone is happy except for Chloe.
“Why do you have to get married?” asked Chloe.
“Jamie and I want to live together and have our own family now,” said Uncle Bobby.
“You want your own kids?”
“Only if they’re just like you,” said Uncle Bobby.
Uncle Bobby reassures Chloe that they will continue to have special times together along with Jamie. When Chloe realizes how much fun the three of them have, she happily agrees to be the bridesmaid at their wedding. The characters are guinea pigs, but Brannen kept the illustrations vague since the story is a human one. Recommended for ages 4 to 7.

Carrie Jones approaches the subject of homosexuality in her first-person-narrative young adult novel, Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend. (Flux, 2007).
Belle is rocked to the core when longtime boyfriend Dylan reveals he is gay. She and Dylan sang songs together, did homework together and even made love together. Shocked and hurt, she seeks solace from her best friend, Emily.
“...I feel selfish for thinking about myself. I should be worrying about him, you know. All he has to deal with.”
“No way. That’s his job. You worry about you. That’s okay. As long as you only do it for a week.”
It’s a busy week for Belle, full of angst, heartache, anger, embarrassment, new love, hormones and angst. Did I mention angst? The drama overload is forgiven because of its believability. Every emotion, reaction and nuance of conversation is perfectly on target with the lives of today’s high school seniors. (There was no surprise in discovering that Carrie Jones wrote this in her second year of college.)
“Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend” focuses less on Dylan and his struggle with coming out than it does on the reaction of Belle and her classmates. There are certainly threats and name-calling, but the only real violence is aimed at Belle. Her neighbor, Eddie Caron, attacks her in an empty school hall.
“So gay-boy Dylan dumped you, huh? And bing, you go out with Tom Tanner. Tom Tanner, a freaking soccer punk?”
“He’s not a soccer punk,” I say, and forget to be scared.
But Eddie is enraged. He chokes Belle and gives her a concussion.
The artistry of the story comes in Belle’s infrequent flashbacks of her times with Dylan. The reader understands that a small part of Belle probably knew Dylan was different, but was unwilling to explore those thoughts to their logical conclusion. Recommended for ages 16 and up.

A more serious young adult book with a similar theme is Alex Sanchez’s The God Box (Simon & Schuster, 2007). The idea for the novel came out of Christian teens’ responses to Sanchez’s other books about homosexual characters. Many of his readers struggled to validate their sexuality with their religion. Sanchez expertly weaves Christian Scripture into his novel set in a small Texas town.
A senior in high school, Paul is extremely religious. He and his girlfriend quote Scripture to each other and are an integral part of their school Bible discussion group. Paul resists his thoughts and dreams of boys. He wants to marry Angie and raise a family with her. But when Manuel transfers to his high school at the beginning of senior year, Paul’s resistance is challenged.
Manuel openly admits he’s gay. Paul, still unable to acknowledge his real sexual orientation, responds heatedly.
“You know you’re going to hell, don’t you?”
“No,” Manuel said, his voice confident. “That doesn’t make sense. Ever since I first started going to church nursery school, I was taught that God loves me just as I am, just as my mom and dad love me, no matter what. So…why on earth would a good and loving God create ten percent of people with a sex drive oriented toward the same gender, and at the same time condemn them to hell for it?”
Manuel’s quiet self-assurance and unerring knowledge of Scripture start Dylan on his road to self-acceptance.
Homophobic violence in “The God Box” leads to an attack on Manuel. After visiting his friend in the hospital, Paul aches for answers.
What would become of me? Should I be honest about who I was—and end up like Manuel, in a hospital bed and possibly destined to hell for giving in to sin? Or should I continue living a lie, feigning unquestioning faith and happiness outside while fighting and hating who I was inside?
The religious hurdle is Paul’s most difficult, but he must also face his girlfriend, Angie. The courage it takes for Paul to finally admit that he doesn’t love Angie that way is palpable. Readers will find themselves cheering Paul on in his journey from guilt to honest acceptance. Recommended for ages 14 and up.

When Lisa is not reading, reading, reading, she enjoys photographing just about everything.

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