Tag Archives: homophobia

Review: Time Out by Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner, and Carlyn Greenwald

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Time Out by Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner cover shows two boys, one in a basketball uniform and the other in long pants and a jacket sitting on the bottom row of the bleachers together. Items are scattered around them on the floor of the gym and on the bleachers.

Time Out
Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner, and Carlyn Greenwald
Simon & Schuster
Published May 30, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Time Out

Heartstopper meets Friday Night Lights in this keenly felt coming-of-age story about a teen hometown hero who must find out who he is outside of basketball when his coming out as gay costs him his popularity and place on the team.

In his small Georgia town, Barclay Elliot is basically a legend. Here basketball is all that matters, and no one has a bigger spotlight than Barclay. Until he decides to use the biggest pep rally in the town’s history to come out to his school. And things change. Quickly.

Barclay is faced with hostility he never expected. Suddenly he is at odds with his own team, and he doesn’t even have his grandfather to turn to the way he used to. But who is Barclay if he doesn’t have basketball?

His best friend, Amy, thinks she knows. She drags him to her voting rights group, believing Barclay can find a bigger purpose. And he does, but he also finds Christopher. Aggravating, fearless, undeniably handsome Christopher. He and Barclay have never been each other’s biggest fans, but as Barclay starts to explore parts of himself he’s been hiding away, they find they might have much more in common than they originally thought.

As sparks turn into something more, though, Barclay has to decide if he’s ready to confront the privilege and popularity that have shielded him his entire life. Can he take a real shot at the love he was fighting for in the first place?

My Review

This is the kind of story that takes a minute to digest. From the cover copy, I knew that Barclay was going to come out at a very public pep rally and that it was going to go badly. And so, in the scenes leading up to that moment, I couldn’t help wanting to shield him somehow from the hurt that was obviously coming. But I could also really see why he wanted to do this and why he felt like it would be okay and would be safe.

And then it wasn’t. This left him not only dealing with people’s reactions to his identity but also a lot of judgment about how he came out. He was called selfish, attention-seeking, all kinds of things, and those judgments blindsided him as much as the withdrawal of support, and the surge of homophobia among the people he thought would have his back.

I felt like that emotional arc– Barclay unpacking his own motives and learning when to stand up for himself and call people out versus calling people in and helping them see him better– was the strongest part of the story.

Another thing the story addressed really well is the way that, initially, Barclay felt like he had to choose between being out and playing basketball. As he explored his boundaries and what he wanted, he began to think about what place basketball would have in his life. I liked that exploration as well.

I also thought the story was well-balanced in terms of the characters. There are some big personalities on the page, from his best friend Amy to the possible love interest and even his grandfather, Scratch, who passed away before the story began. Yet the story really remains Barclay’s. I liked that, too.

All in all, I think TIME OUT would have slipped under my radar if the publisher hadn’t sent me a copy. I’m really glad I read it. Coming out and facing homophobia aren’t exactly new stories, but I think this version brings some necessary pieces to the conversation, and it’s a well-balanced novel packed with interesting characters. I think fans of Bill Konigsberg (author of OPENLY STRAIGHT and THE MUSIC OF WHAT HAPPENS) will enjoy this one.

Content Notes for Time Out

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Barclay and another character are gay. One of Barclay’s friends is Japanese American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. Vague/brief references to sex.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
After coming out, Barclay faces an onslaught of homophobic comments. The F-slur is insinuated multiple times but only printed once. Barclay charges at a boy after he continually makes homophobic comments and threats to him and about him online. A boy punches another boy. A car slams into the back of a boy’s bicycle, injuring him. For a moment, it’s unclear whether the driver intends to hurt the bicyclist further.

Drug Content
Barclay goes to a college party with his older brother and drinks a lot of beer before making a fool of himself. He briefly references taking a friend’s CBD gummies between classes when he’s feeling stressed out.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of TIME OUT in exchange for my honest review.

Review: All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

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All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto
George M. Johnson
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Published April 28, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About All Boys Aren’t Blue

In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.

Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, ALL BOYS AREN’T BLUE covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson’s emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.

My Review

George M. Johnson’s writing style definitely drew me in. He has this ability to dive into places in the human soul that I think we are often afraid to travel openly. He said things that challenged me but also things that resonated with me so deeply that I still feel their echoes.

The book is divided up into four parts, each part made up of chapters about different topics. He describes family connections and the way that his family consistently pulled together to love one another, acknowledging their imperfections, but recognizing the gift those relationships have been to him.

He also shares some vulnerable experiences in order to talk about how little information he had and how that affected choices he made. Some of the descriptions of these events are graphic. I really liked that he offered the context for his decision to include those stories, though, and his desire to help foster better education for the generation coming after him.

All in all, this is a poignant, brave, and articulate memoir that has a lot to offer its readers in terms of identity, culture, and masculinity.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
George is Black and queer. Some of his family members and friends also identify as LGBTQIA+

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently. The author also uses racist and homophobic slurs at times in the book. He explains his choices in an opening letter to readers.

Romance/Sexual Content
George describes a night when he was 13 and an older cousin molested him.

George also describes sexual experiences he had in college in one chapter.

Spiritual Content
George attended a Catholic high school.

Violent Content
Descriptions of a fight between boys in which two boys held George down while another kicked his front teeth in. Later, he references a cousin who was killed in a fight on the street.

Drug Content
Brief description of kids sneaking liquor from their parents’ cabinet. In college, George drank alcohol and smoked marijuana. He talks about how his smoking habit impacted his college attendance and grades.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog.

Review: Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

Surrender Your Sons
Adam Sass
Flux
Published September 15, 2020

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Surrender Your Sons

Connor Major’s summer break is turning into a nightmare.

His SAT scores bombed, the old man he delivers meals to died, and when he came out to his religious zealot mother, she had him kidnapped and shipped off to a secluded island. His final destination: Nightlight Ministries, a conversion therapy camp that will be his new home until he “changes.”

But Connor’s troubles are only beginning. At Nightlight, everyone has something to hide from the campers to the “converted” staff and cagey camp director, and it quickly becomes clear that no one is safe. Connor plans to escape and bring the other kidnapped teens with him. But first, he’s exposing the camp’s horrible truths for what they are— and taking this place down.

My Review

I remember when this book first came out how intrigued (and scared?) I was by the premise. It’s basically a suspense/murder mystery that takes place inside a conversion therapy camp. It’s dark. But it’s also packed with really fascinating characters, fierce in their identities and in their hope for their own futures. There’s trauma. There’s horror. But there’s somehow humor, light and love, too.

At the beginning, I wanted Connor’s relationships to be simple. For his mom to be a bad mom in an uncomplicated way. For his boyfriend to be a solid support in an uncomplicated way. But, just as so often in life, the uncomplicated didn’t happen. Connor’s mom wasn’t wrong to be concerned about his grades or to take his phone as a method of punishment. But her handling of his identity, and the fracturing of their relationship causes a lot of harm to him. Connor’s relationship with Ario also has a lot of layers, some good, some not good. The deeper into the story I got, the more I appreciated those layers and the fact that those relationships weren’t wholly one thing or the other.

I definitely felt on the edge of my seat reading this book. Some parts were so tense! There’s one part where someone is told that a character is waiting for them in a specific room, and everyone knows this is somehow a trap, but they have no choice but to go look. I felt like my whole body was tense reading that part.

On the whole, it’s definitely a dark book, so take care reading it. Check the content notes and be sure you’re up for it. If you are, brace yourself for a wild ride and some unforgettable characters.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Connor is gay. Several other characters are gay. One minor character is transgender. One is bisexual. Connor’s boyfriend is Muslim.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used regularly throughout the book.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between to boys. References to sex and descriptions of arousal. At one point Connor is trapped in a closet while two characters have sex in the adjacent room. He hears noises and knows what’s happening, but it’s not graphically described.

Spiritual Content
Connor and the other “camp” attendees come from highly conservative Christian churches/families whose beliefs make it clear that being gay or transgender is unacceptable. At one point Connor and another camper wonder whether they’ll ever be able to attend any church again after their experiences. Both feel that separating Nightlight experiences from their faith won’t be easy, if even possible.

Violent Content – Trigger Warning for homophobia, abuse and violence and references to suicide.
Contains some homophobic slurs. Connor’s boyfriend pressures him to come out even though he doesn’t feel that it’s safe to do so. “Camp” workers literally kidnap Connor and carry him from his home against his will. We understand the same has happened to the other “campers.” Workers use threats, physical abuse, and tasers to control the (mostly) children at Nightlight. “Campers” who do not follow their instructions can be locked in cages.

References to someone being beaten to death with a crowbar. References to someone left paralyzed after being beaten. Two scenes graphically describe murder. References to suicide and suicide attempts.

Drug Content
Brief description of two boys about eighteen going to a gay bar. A man claims he was drunk when he committed an atrocity.

Note: I received a free copy of SURRENDER YOUR SONS in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. Opinions are my own.