Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

by Alison Bechdel, 232 pages

This is a memoir of the author's complicated childhood with her closeted gay father who may or may not have intentionally jumped in front of a bread truck when she was nineteen.

Bechdel relates the gaps between her father's public and private lives and how his secrets affected her and her family over the years.  Despite his many affairs (some possibly with minors) and lifelong obsessions (art, architecture, gardening, literature) that seemed to take priority over emotionally connecting with his wife and children, he was still her father, and losing him shortly after coming out, herself, has left a hole in her life.

This cuttingly honest and thoughtful analysis of an imperfect life through the author's memories made me cry when I got to the last page.

America's Boy by Wade Rouse

pp340
I went to college with Wade and while I didn't know him well, I remembered him having a sharp wit which could be cutting.  My mental picture of him is a somewhat heavy kid with glasses who wore an oversized knit sweater...a lot.  When Wade's book came out, I told myself I would read it someday.  It caused a bit of a stir because he was publicly announcing he was gay.  No one who really cared about Wade minded that he was gay but a number of people were upset that he wasn't able to be honest about it. 
I thought Wade's book was wonderful.  He paints a picture of growing up different in a small, rural community, finding comfort of sorts by stuffing himself with food.  At one point he talks about how it was more acceptable to be fat than to be gay.  His portrayal of family members is poignant and sometimes downright hilarious.  His honest picture of what it was like when he gave up food and embraced exercise, finally admitted his sexual orientation and his first forays into dating as a gay man and his ultimate discovery of Gary, the love of his life are told with self-depricating humor and frankness.
Ultimately, Wade's family accepted him in ways he didn't realize until he came to terms with his own feelings about himself.  We all have family issues but Wade's book showed his family realistically but lovingly.  That's not easy to achieve.
Kimf

In Mike We Trust

by P. E. Ryan, 321 pages

After his boat-loving father's drowning death during a storm, high-schooler Garth spends his time building detailed ship models, wishing he weren't so short, and trying not to give his overly-anxious mother more reason to worry. She's so consumed by fear that, when he tells her he's gay, she begs him to keep it to himself until he's "older"--not because she can't accept it, but because acknowledging it could expose him to the dangers of bullying and hate crimes. She even freaks out when he tries to call a counseling hotline for LGBT youth. So, he hides his sexuality from everyone (except his best friend Lisa), builds his models, and has nightmares about not being able to save his father. Until, that is, his Uncle Mike--his father's fun-loving, estranged twin--shows up at their dingy apartment door asking to crash for a few weeks. Suddenly, Garth has a male role model again, a sage confidante, and a social life. How could Garth's dad have had a falling out with such a seemingly great guy? So Uncle Mike drags Garth into some questionable business ventures...and gets him to lie to his mother...and his best friend...and his new friend.... It's only for a couple of weeks. No big deal, right? Right?

The dangers of lying--whether about where you went today or who you are inside--take center stage in this coming-of-age YA novel. While I enjoyed the story and characters very much, I didn't like it quite as well as Ryan's other teen books. Garth's naïveté and impressionable nature are understandable given his age and home life, but even after he realizes early on that his uncle isn't as ideal as he'd convinced himself he was, the boy still goes along with his schemes, desperate for whatever father-figure-ish companionship he can get. It's frustrating watching the train wreck he knowingly helps make of things as he becomes almost as blame-worthy as his inveterate charlatan of an uncle. One of the things I like about the book, though, is Mike's fairly realistically flawed character. He really cares about Garth and gives him some good advice about being himself, but then turns around and pressures the boy into lying about nearly everything else in his life. He's neither a conveniently perfect role model nor a completely heartless villain. Also, I appreciate that not all of Garth's messes are neatly tied up before the final page. I just wish he had a little more backbone and that his story wasn't so overtly message-driven, as the latter element is distracting and takes away from the book's realism. Quibbles aside, I still wish Garth good things. He's just a kid, after all. And they need all the support they can get.

Saints of Augustine

by P. E. Ryan, 308 pages

Sam and Charlie used to be best friends--until Sam inexplicably broke it off with Charlie and stopped talking to him. A year later, in the summer before their senior year, both boys are struggling separately to deal with their messy home lives, close-kept secrets, and ever-compounding problems. Without one another's support, they're quickly losing the battle for control over their own circumstances.

This is a touching, uplifting teen novel about the power of friendship. The boys are likeable, believable teens with individual personalities and all too realistic problems. The chapters alternate between the increasingly chaotic lives of the two boys as they avoid facing the issues pulling them under. Sam has stopped talking to most everyone, terrified he will lose the love of his friends and already broken family if he tells them he's gay, when it's his silence that's doing the most damage; and Charlie finds himself dangerously in debt to a drug dealer and having to parent his grief-stricken widower of a father without being able to deal constructively with his own sense of loss. Alone, they dig themselves in deeper and deeper while the worried reader holds out hope that if they would just fess up to who they are and what's going on in their lives, they would realize that the bonds of family and friendship, however complicated, are strong enough to see them through.

After reading and enjoying Ryan's Gemini Bites, it dawned on me that I've read very little YA fiction by male authors, very little non-fantasy YA lit, and no other YA books with a gay protagonist (I've come across any number of gay side characters, but few leads). And since Ryan writes all three of those things, and I liked GB, I just decided to read everything he's written (not too hard, as he's only got three teen novels and one adult one under his belt at the moment). Saints is definitely my favorite of his teen books (I talk about his adult one, Send Me, in another review). Ryan's frank, hopeful portrayal of regular kids with real world issues serves as a refreshing alternative to all the dark, magic-propelled plots I'm in the habit of picking up. Plus, he's inspiring me to try to read a little more outside my lazy zone, and that can only be a good thing.

Gemini Bites

by Patrick Ryan, 229 pages

Kyle's life already resembles a primetime sitcom. With six siblings, one of whom apparently hates him, and a pair of loving but quirky parents, the last thing the semi-outed sixteen-year-old needs is a tenth body thrown into the mess. But that's just what he gets when his dad announces that Kyle's classmate Garret will be moving into their newly remodeled game room for a few weeks. Garret obviously has some issues of his own, but Kyle finds himself drawn to the strange, artistic boy despite the latter's insistence that his night-timey goth look is more than just skin deep. Unfortunately, Kyle's über-competitive twin sister Judy (a.k.a. Monster) can't stand to see Kyle win at anything. Not even vampire love.

Gemini Bites is a well-written, quickly-paced teen novel that broaches some sensitive topics with frankness and gentle humor. Kyle's and Judy's voices are distinct (his more self-effacing, hers more assertive) yet clearly related as they each deal with insecurity and identity issues in their own way. If the parents come off as perhaps a little too laid back and indulgent, their supportive, positive relationships with their children and with one another (rare finds in contemporary teen lit) put the reader in a forgiving mood. Sometimes, it's nice to be reminded that not all families are hopelessly dysfunctional.

An involving, sweet, funny read about shared bonds and the importance of being oneself.