Absolutely Positively Not by David LaRochelle

★★★★ 1/2

"Of course!  That was it!  I didn't need a tattoo.  What I needed was something a lot less expensive and considerably less painful.  What I needed was a Playboy."

When sixteen-year-old Steven DeNarsky starts to develop feelings for his teacher, Mr. Bowman, he attempts to convince himself that he is not gay.  He then devotes himself to “straight” activities such as dating a lot of girls, buying Playboy magazines, and sitting at the hockey table at lunch.  After weeks and weeks of not having any luck with being attracted to the opposite sex, Steven accepts the fact that he is gay and comes out to his best friend Rachel, who (alone with her entire family) already knew that Steven was gay years before he did.  Shortly after taking his dog to the prom, Steven tells his parents that his is gay and is surprised about their neutral reaction.  He eventually attends a meeting for gay and lesbian youth group at a coffee shop.  Even though it is a lesbian meeting, Steven has a good time and connects with a boy at his school that is also gay.

I really enjoyed reading this book.  It was faced paced and fun to read.  I loved the character of Steven and that the story was told from his point of view.  Readers were able to see exactly what he was thinking and going through during his process of coming out.  The book had a lot of humor and I found myself laughing out loud during certain parts.  I felt that the novel did a great job of accurately portraying a high school students coming to terms with his sexuality without being too sexual or unrealistic.  I also liked that the book ended on a positive not with Steven finding a group of peers to talk to.  I would highly recommend this book to all young adults and feel that adults would enjoy reading it as well.