Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez

[katekintailbc]

Rainbow Boys
by Alex Sanchez

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*

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 horrible 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. And, stereotypes or not, I still loved the characters and I really MUST know what happens 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.