Once You Go Back

Martin, Douglas A.  Once You Go Back.  2009. 208 p. Seven Stories, $16.95. (978-1-58322-878-4). Gr. 10+.

With the opening sentence, “Pretend you are my sister,” Martin’s narrator invites the reader to participate in an intimate journey of a young boy as he travels through childhood and adolescence within a strained family structure.  Both the boy and sister experience their individual sexual awakenings as they struggle within a broken home environment marked by violence—the estrangement from their father, the abusive stepfather who replaces him, and their mother overwhelmed by life.  Impressionistic and sparse language create a portrait of a young boy growing up gay in a Southern family.  –Victor Schill

Josef Jaeger

Fishback, Jere’ M. Josef Jaeger. 2009. 396p. Prizm/Torquere, $13.95. (978-1603706858). Gr. 10+.

A political and sexual coming-of-age story set in the early days of Adolf Hitler’s rise to power and the consolidation of Nazi rule in Germany. Josef Jaeger is a thirteen-year-old youth who lives with his mother who is an opera singer in Bayreuth. When she dies, Josef is sent to Munich to live with an uncle he has never known. This uncle turns out to be Ernst Roehm, the leader of the SA, the Nazi brown shirts, and who is openly homosexual, living with his lover, Rudy. Josef begins to explore his own sexuality and after he joins the Hitler Youth, he later has a relationship with Max, one of the group leaders. Due to his uncle’s political connections, Josef is selected for a starring role in a Nazi propaganda movie and he has to move temporarily to Berlin. One day while bicycling to the movie studio, Josef is struck by a car. Taken to a nearby doctor, he is treated for a gash on his forehead, and there he meets the doctor’s son, David, to whom he is attracted. Finding the attraction mutual, he and David fall in love, but must keep their relationship secret, especially since David is Jewish. As the Nazis intensify the campaign against Jews, Josef must examine his own beliefs and decide how he will live. An interesting historical novel set in a turbulent and challenging time.  –Victor Schill

The Meaning of Matthew

Shepard, Judy with Jon Barrett.  The Meaning of Matthew:  My Son’s Murder in Laramie and a World Transformed. 2009.  273p.  Hudson/Penguin, $25.95.  (978-1-59463-057-6).  Gr. 9-12.

The day that a young student at the University of Wyoming was tied to a fence and left for dead outside Laramie was a turning point for glbt rights.  Eleven years after Matt (as his mother called him) died, this tragedy has become an icon for those demanding rights.  In her book, Matt’s mother tells about his growing up, his family, his coming out as a gay man, and his struggles that led up to the horrifying telephone call to his parents in Saudi Arabia about the savage beating.  In simple, straight-forward language, Shepard then recounts the aftermath—the memorial service picketed by those who despise glbtq people, the plea agreement of one and the trial of the other murderer, and her and her husband’s responses.  Her book culminates in a brief description of her gay rights activism, work which has helped pass the federal law criminalizing an assault on an individual because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity.

My Red Blood

Dobkin, Alix.  My Red Blood:  A Memoir of Growing Up Communist, Coming onto the Greenwich Village Folk Scene, and Coming Out in the Feminist Movement. 2009.  272p.  Alyson, $16.95.  (978-159350107-5).  Gr. 10-12.

The first artist to record an openly lesbian album (1973), this famous women’s music legend chronicles her 25-year struggle to acknowledge her feelings for other women and her determination to be a feminist.  A teenager during the McCarthy witch hunts, Dobkin grew up with surveillance on her family because of their political activities and stayed under the watchful eye of the FBI while she participated in the New York folk scene of the early 1960s, meeting such rising stars as Bob Dylan, Bill Crosby, Flip Wilson, and Buffy Ste. Marie.  As she says in the preface, this memoir covers her “pre-lesbian” life.  Perhaps she will write a sequel.

The Essential Dykes to Watch Out for

Bechdel, Alison.  The Essential Dykes to Watch Out for.  2009 (Nov.).  352p.  Houghton Mifflin, $25.00.  (978-0-618-96880-0).  Gr. 10-12.

For the past 25 years, readers have followed the countercultural adventures of Lois, Ginger, Sparrow, Mo, Claire, Toni, and their lovers and friends in this comic strip that has been syndicated, translated, and chosen for collections.  Selections from all eleven Dykes volumes joined here by sixty of the newest strips not yet published in book form follow these characters from youth to middle age as they debate politics, fight for women’s equality, create families, struggle with cancer, and—of course—have hot sex.  Funny, thoughtful, fast-moving, this mélange of lesbian experiences is perfect for a rainy day in front of a fireplace or a relaxing time at the beach.

Sexuality and Socialism: History, Politics, and Theory of LGBT Liberation

Wolf, Sherry.  Sexuality and Socialism:  History, Politics, and Theory of LGBT Liberation. 2009.  333p.  Haymarket Books, $12.00.  (978-1-931859-79-0).  Gr. 10-12.

Despite the political struggles of the past half century for GLBT individuals to achieve equality with others and the gains made during that time, the discrimination, as evidenced in marriage and military laws, continue.  In this series of essays, Wolf describes this past and argues for a full liberation of human sexuality.   Clearly written, this concise collection pursues a variety of areas including the state’s repression of glbtq individuals, the work of the Gay Liberation Front to relate this repression with other repressed groups, the movement of those “tolerant” of glbt individuals to keep them from equal rights, the question of biological reasons for being glbt with a description of how people are shaped through environment, and the need to fight for glbt people to stand up and fight.  Throughout her essays, Wolf shows how the existing discrimination comes from a strong class society.  Her revolutionary ideas, meant to spark strong opinions and discussion in readers, will be eye-opening for young adults.

At Least in the City Somewone Would Hear Me Scream

Rouse, Wade.  At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream:  Misadventures in Search of the Simple Life.  2009.  301p.  Harmony House, $23.99.  (978-0-307-45190-3).  Gr. 10-12.

This hilarious memoir by the author of America’s Boy, an earlier Rainbow selection, covers a year in Michigan when Rouse and his partner, Gary, leave their city home in St. Louis for the idyllic rustic life.  Rouse uses Henry David Thoreau’s Walden as a basis for ten “life lessons” for his determination to change from the selfish, shopping-crazy urban gay to a caring, happy writer satisfied with a more minimalist environment.  Fortunately for the humor, he maintains his flamboyant attitude as the two men circumvent the rural culture in a mutual education for all.  As he details his current humiliations and victories, Rouse connects these to his struggles of growing up gay in the Ozarks.

Wanderlust: A Beautiful Americans Novel

Silag, Lucy.  Wanderlust:  A Beautiful Americans Novel.  2009.  277p.  RazorBill, $16.99.  (978-1-59514-223-8).  Gr. 10-12.

Alex, Jay, Zack, and Olivia—American exchange high school students at a Paris school—search throughout the French countryside for their friend, Penelope Jane (aka PJ) who finds herself in danger when she finds her sister.  But PJ is not the only one in danger:  Alex’s host parents, who can destroy anyone who crosses them, may destroy all of them.  The focus on these five young people comes from their search for some place to belong, including Zack’s decision to briefly run away to Amsterdam where he hopes to openly express his homosexuality.

Inferno

Stevenson, Robin.  Inferno. 2009.  229p.  Orca, $12.95.  (978-1-55469-077-0).  Gr. 9-12.

At 14, Emily lived in a city, enjoying the freedom.  A little more than a year later, she is alone in a conservative high school after Beth, her best friend and secret lover, moved away.  Her solution to this misery is to change her name to Dante, face down the bullying teachers, and make friends with Parker, a high school dropout who wants to fight the establishment.  When Dante becomes infatuated on Parker, she tries to save her friend from the abusive relationship with her boyfriend, but Parker claims she loves him while she flirts with Dante.  The book covers a variety of personal and social  issues:  unhealthy friendships, well-intentioned parents and their misunderstanding, homophobia, bullying teachers, abusive relationships, and social activism.

The Ring

Pyron, Bobbie.  The Ring. 2009.  253p.  Westside Books, $15.95.  (978-1-934813-09-6).

Angry to the point of self-destruction, 15-year-old Mardie loses her resentment of her “perfect” older brother, Michael, when she takes up boxing and then discovers that Michael is gay.  Through her training to gain strategy and mental discipline in the ring, Mardie works through her emotional pain, her friend’s rejection, and her parents’ lack of understanding toward a sense of strength and fearlessness.  Although the focus is on Mardie, her growing relationship with Michael after she finds that he is gay and her protective attitude toward him when he is bullied shows the importance of family unity around a young glbtq person.