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.  

Hondo by Louis L'Amour

★★★ 1/2

"It means morning, but that isn't what it means either.  Indian words are more than just that.  They also mean the feel and the sound of the name."

            Hondo Lane is a lone cowboy living in the southwestern United States in the 1870s.  When he loses his horse in an ambush with the Apaches, the local Indian tribe, he comes across the ranch of an abandoned wife named Angie Lane and her young son Johnny.  The two get along well and Hondo encourages Angie and her son to come to safety with him to escape Vittoro, the Apache chief, but Angie refuses.  When Hondo arrives at the army post the next day, he runs into Angie’s husband, Ed Lowe, and decides to return to the ranch to watch over Angie and Johnny.  Ed follows Hondo determined to kill him for stealing his horse, but Hondo gets to Ed first.  Hondo is then captured by the Apache, but is saved by Vittoro when he is recognized to be Angie’s husband.  Vittoro brings Hondo back to the ranch and is cared for by Angie.  Hondo eventually tells Angie the truth about killing her husband and, after the Apache leaders are defeated by the United States troops, Hondo agrees to live with Angie and take care of her and her son.

Forever by Judy Blume

★★★★

"Like my mother said, you can't go back to holding hands."

Katherine is a senior in high school when she meets Michael Wagner at a New Year’s Eve party.  The two quickly begin to spend a lot of time together and are accompanied by Katherine’s friend Erica and Michael’s friend Artie.  As their relationship becomes more series, the issue of sex is brought up both on a physical and emotional level.  When Katherine and Michael finally do have sex for the first time, they promise each other that they will be together “forever.”  As their senior year draws to a close, they each are forced by their parents to work summer jobs out of state.  Even though they try to keep their relationship strong by writing letters, Katherine becomes attracted to a fellow camp instructor and her relationship with Michael is questioned.

This was one of the few books from the course that I read as a young adult.  I generally enjoyed reading the book again, and have a different perspective on the novel reading it as an adult almost ten years later.  When I read it as a teenager, I remember liking the story, but being disappointed that Katherine and Michael broke up in the end.  Now, I appreciated the book for giving a very realistic portrayal of first love in high school.  It didn’t portray Katherine’s first experience with sex as glamorous as some young adult books do and it also didn’t leave out details either (I can see why this book is very controversial!).  I also liked that the story was told from Katherine’s point of view and gave readers a complete since of her thoughts and emotions as she was going through the relationship with Michael.  I would recommend this book to others, but with caution.  I don’t see too many boys enjoying the novel and the sexual content makes it potentially inappropriate for young and less mature students.  Since the book was written in the 1970s, it is also a bit dated and does not include correct information on the importance of protection during sex from sexually transmitted diseases.