I recently saw a recommendation for this book on Twitter. I watched an interview with the author and decided I’d be interested in the book; I say this through my lens as an educator but also someone who rarely reads YA or children’s literature.
The book tells of a young man’s scout camping experience before starting high school. Aiden has been teased for being gay, fat, and for his ethnic background. The themes resonated with me, of course. I’d been in scouts and grew up gay, which wasn’t always easy. Curato sets the book in the mid-nineties, about a decade after my own experiences. While I was not brought up Catholic and don’t have Filipino roots, the primary concern of young Aiden is figuring out his sexuality and how to reckon this with the belief system thrust upon him.
The book is thick, but it’s girth is due to its format as a graphic novel. Curato both authored and illustrated the book, using a pencil aesthetic. The art is outstanding, I think, and the writing is spot-on with an authenticity to experiences gay teens may unfortunately struggle with. There were a couple times when jumps in the story were a bit abrupt, but what followed was always interesting.
I suspect this book won’t find a place in every middle school library, but it should. While the book mirrors real-life experiences by the author, it presents the reality of being gay without reservation. It’s exactly the type of message questioning teens would benefit from when they, like Aiden, may feel helpless or resort to cutting to cope with the stress of teasing from peers and a challenging home life.
As an adult I couldn’t help but wish this book had been written for me in middle school. Extremely enjoyable and well-done. I hope a sequel is planned!
