I bought this off Amazon Marketplace and the condition was supposed to be "very good". Er, not so much of the very. But it's readable. I read a library copy of this book.

Jason Carrillo: Jock. Good looks. Beautiful girlfriend. Popular. Unsatisfied.

Kyle Meeks: Swim team star. Friendly. Easygoing. Intelligent. Confused.

Nelson Glassman: Independent. Opinionated. Defiant. Joker. In love.

High school's hard enough as it is without falling in love with your best friend--who's crushing on the most popular guy in school. or feeling like your parents would throw you out if they knew you were gay. Or being afraid of who you are...

This book was on one of the recommended book displays at one of the libraries at which I volunteer. Then I picked it off the shelves at the other library because someone put a hold on it. It kept jumping out at me, so I decided it was time to give it a chance.

I couldn't put it down!

I found myself reading long into the night, telling myself only one more chapter, one chapter after another. And then, on my day off, I stayed in bed all morning, reading until I was done. And then... I went and put the other two books in the trilogy on hold at the library *G* I read those two just as quickly.

It's not an extraordinary book by any means. It's pretty normal and simple, really. But I really liked the characters. And I have a weakness for stories that jump around in points of view (especially in three parts). It was almost a stereotype study- an obviously gay boy with mother in PFLAG, a boy who knows he's gay but is afraid to come out, and a boy who hasn't been honest with himself about his sexuality yet (let alone honest to his family, friends, girlfriend) and whose knee-jerk reaction is to hate the flamboyant gay stereotype. In a sort of love triangle, friendship, love, infatuation, fear, denial, and revulsion are all mixed together... then thrown into a blender and mixed together some more. Whenever one boy seems to make headway towards what you want his life to be like (finally kisses boy of his dreams or finally loses his virginity or finally comes out) it all turns out horribly wrong and realistically complicated. I loved seeing everything from different points of view, and really seeing things from each character's perspective.

It's certainly not the best book I've ever read, but I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the gay lit genre or to any teen because it paints a very true picture about things as they are for gay teens now. The pages at the back offer help and resources for teens as well. And, stereotypes or not, I still loved the characters and I really HAD to know what happened to them next!

Oh, also, I absolutely LOVE reading books set where I live! The Starbucks on Lee Highway that they mention? That's only a few miles from where I work! Tech? That's where I went to college! Incidentally, there's no Walt Whitman High School (haha, clever name) but there is a Walt Whitman Middle School in this area and I think there's a Walt Whitman High School about 40 minutes away in Maryland.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm adding this to Scoobs-buddy GLBT July '09 bookbox. I hope whoever ends up with this book enjoys it as much as I did!

Taken from Scoobs-buddy's GLBT bookbox. (The picture on the cover makes at least one of the characters look rather sinister, but maybe that's just my imagination!)

Later: Oops, this is one of the "Rainbow" books I'd already read! Gotta be more careful about that {grin}.

It's an entertaining book about a trio of gay teens and how they cope with high school, coming out, parents, romance, sex - I'd thought it was going to be a bit fluffy, but it surprised me, and while it's on the light side it does deal with a number of issues in a reasonable way. Jason the closeted, Kyle the confused, and Nelson the flamboyant each have different ways of dealing with their lives; they're appealing characters and I wound up hoping things work out for them. [I liked the sequel, Rainbow High, but haven't read the third one yet.]

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm sending this to BCer Jare in New Mexico, to fulfill a wish (and to clear some shelf space - however temporarily {grin}). Hope you enjoy it!

Thank you SO much for the surprise! I've been curious about this series, so now I can give it a try!

This was quite a fun, but quite fluffy little story. The story of three young gay man, all seniors in high school, find friendship and love. These young men are all at different stages of coming out and acceptance, as well as self acceptance. The romance aspect in the story was actually quite cute and the friendships were in Deering, enough to make me want to continue with this series. This is not a very serious book, but it packs enough of a punch, and I can see how it would be really good for young queer adults.

Left on a chair by the lake.

Enjoy!