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108th out of 375 books
—
1,081 voters
Absolutely Positively Not
There is one thing Steven knows for sure: He's absolutely, positively NOT gay.
Steven's a 16-year-old boy with two obsessions: sex and getting his driving license. The problem is, Steven's not thinking girls when he's thinking sex. Could he be -- don't say it -- gay? Steven sets out to get in touch with his inner he-man with Healthy Heterosexual Strategies such as "Start Ha...more
Steven's a 16-year-old boy with two obsessions: sex and getting his driving license. The problem is, Steven's not thinking girls when he's thinking sex. Could he be -- don't say it -- gay? Steven sets out to get in touch with his inner he-man with Healthy Heterosexual Strategies such as "Start Ha...more
Hardcover, 224 pages
Published
June 1st 2005
by Arthur A. Levine Books
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I found this book to be a very unbelievable, clique story of a teen’s journey to discovering his homosexuality. Although it was refreshing to see a heavy subject dealt with in a light and somewhat humorous way, it was so unrealistic; it is hard for me to see how teens could benefit from it. It appeared to me to be a “Brady Bunch” version of a story of discovering your sexuality. Many stereotypes of homosexual people were used in this book which don’t really reflect reality. The teen also takes a...more
As an LGBTQ teen in the process of coming out myself (I'm a bisexual girl) I found SO much to emphasize with in Absolutely Positively Not. I loved Steven; he was the right balance of quirky and normal, gay-but-not-too-gay. Occasionally his self-denying rants got a little ridiculous to someone like me, who has always grown up in a household where it's not a bad thing to be gay. He finds an old book which instructs parents how to 'fix' a gay teen and tries the methods on himself. I can't imagine a...more
I don't often impulse buy at bookstores (I tend to browse libraries), but I came across this book, opened it, and started reading, and I couldn't stop, so I figured I might as well buy it. Turned out to be an excellent idea. This story comes with natural and engaging characters and a plot that is sometimes hilarious and sometimes a bit painful, but always subtle, and it feels *just* removed enough to feel like a fun, engaging read, rather than something that's super realistic and heavy (those bo...more
I'm so fond of this book. The protagonist is awesome, the story's delivered with a good dollop of humour and not a lot of angst, and it's simply a delightful read. I appreciate how the main character isn't just a gay guy, but a gay guy with a lot of weird quirks, like his Superman obsession and his passion for square-dancing. Plus, no tacked-on romance! Which made me especially endeared to the character, since too often queer YA novels are all this melodrama about this one character who's attrac...more
Absolutely, Positively, Not is absolutely, positively laugh out loud funny! Steven, a sophomore in high school, begins to wonder about his lack of interest in girls. He tries hard to convince himself that he is not gay. First, he makes an attempt to buy a Playboy magazine to keep as proof that he is straight. Next, he decides to plaster everything with pictures of females hoping it will spark an interest. When this does not work, he looks for books at the library to help him figure things out. H...more
Hilarious! I loved, loved, loved this book! I embarrassed myself many times on the treadmill at the gym reading this one and laughing out loud. At the same time, I was moved to tears by the resolution of the book.
I discovered this book after having read "My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Baseball" by Steve Klueger, which we were considering for an all-school read. My radar was up, as I was looking for more books dealing with GLBTQ issues. I attended a "Book and Breakfas...more
I discovered this book after having read "My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Baseball" by Steve Klueger, which we were considering for an all-school read. My radar was up, as I was looking for more books dealing with GLBTQ issues. I attended a "Book and Breakfas...more
Apr 10, 2013
Stephen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
teens coming out, parents of gay teens
Steven's got a secret as he admits in the first sentence of this book. But by the second sentence we know that his secret is that he enjoys square dancing. He's also got ANOTHER secret that he's not so forthcoming with. In fact he can't really admit it to himself yet, he's gay.
As one would expect from a book released under the Scholastic imprint, there's nothing too disturbing or too depressing in this book. Aimed squarely at teen readers, it's a basically happy, basically fun-filled, tale of t...more
As one would expect from a book released under the Scholastic imprint, there's nothing too disturbing or too depressing in this book. Aimed squarely at teen readers, it's a basically happy, basically fun-filled, tale of t...more
Sep 04, 2009
Ali
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
summer-reading-books-2009
The characters in “Absolutely, Positively Not” are Steven, Coach Bowman, and Rachel. Steven is snot the most athletic person at school, and usually gets picked on because of it. However, his best friend Rachel, is the exact opposite. Whenever Steven is getting made fun of, she’s always there to fight the bullies off. Coach Bowman started out as Steven and Rachel’s substitute teacher. After a few days, he because the assistant hockey coach. He is labeled as very attractive and friendly.
This book...more
This book...more
(warning: some minor spoilers) This is a fluffy, enjoyable romp of a coming-out book. Steven, the protagonist, is a slightly stereotypical not-sure-if-he's-gay teenager, but there are a few non-stereotypical gay characters around him.
I love his Dad's reaction to his coming out, and the family of his best friend. And I love how brave Steven is--not only in his journey through figuring out his sexual identity, but just in his social forays in general.
The one piece that left me with questions was...more
I love his Dad's reaction to his coming out, and the family of his best friend. And I love how brave Steven is--not only in his journey through figuring out his sexual identity, but just in his social forays in general.
The one piece that left me with questions was...more
dont remember what this is about but i read it lol
Steven is definitely interested in girls. At least that’s what he keeps telling himself. He surrounds himself with pictures of girls that are supposed to be attractive and goes on 23 dates. Despite all of his efforts, he still feels an attraction to Mr. Bowman and a couple other boys at school. Along with this challenge, he is facing all of the other challenges of a typical teen, like getting his driver’s license. Once he finally admits that he is gay, he starts a new adventure in his new lifest...more
While it may not cover any new ground on the topic of a gay teen's self-awareness, Absolutely Positively Not is one fantastic novel. The main character is Steven, a 16-year-old who is determined to prove to himself that he's not gay. After finding and outdated book about teenage boy sexuality, he sets out to "fix" himself using the methods described by the author. This leads to hilarious outcomes that are just too good to spoil here.
The big question, though, is what will become of Steven. Will...more
The big question, though, is what will become of Steven. Will...more
Absolutely Positively Not is Absolutely Positively Not just a book for gay guys. It is for Everyone and it is amazing! It starts with think how he is not gay and all that witch is hard to believe saying he has men under magazinez under his bed in a box. He desides not to be gay and decides to get the really dumb book. It tells signs of being gay and how to stop it. The first way he tries out. Hanging with other masculet guys the hockey team. This is going good thing untill they dis-own him for...more
I thought this book, in addition to being hilarious, was a wonderfully written and well thought out novel about coming out and sexuality. It was not overly analytical and probing, but addressed real teen issues with candid humor—an element that is frequently missing from books of this genre. Unlike many LGBTQI fiction books for teens, this novel was not purely sexual in nature but investigated the psychological and emotional aspects of what it means to be young and gay. I also liked how the nove...more
A cute, low-drama story about Steven, a 16-year-old square dancer who is trying to convince himself he's not gay, all evidence to the contrary. And he is definitely NOT attracted to Mr. Bowman, the new health teacher. Steven consults an ancient parenting book from the library for advice on how to straighten himself out. He tries rubber band snaps, attempted bonding with the hockey team, plastering his walls with Victoria's Secret ads, and dating half the girls in school. No luck. But it all work...more
Cute book about a teen guy coming to terms with his sexuality. Nothing earth-shattering or even particularly memorable, but it’s funny (International Male!) and a lot more natural and less anvilicious than, say, Geography Club.
Steven is questioning his sexuality. He knows he's not gay, because why else would he have Victoria's Secret models on his wall or sit with the jocks at lunch? But then again, he does spend a lot of time eyeing Coach Bowman and looking at male underwear catalogues. Throughout the story, Steven learns what it means to be a guy and to be true to himself.
First of all, I'm going to put aside the fact that parts of this book were very stereotypical and unrealistic. I am noting that, and that I am no...more
First of all, I'm going to put aside the fact that parts of this book were very stereotypical and unrealistic. I am noting that, and that I am no...more
Dec 09, 2009
Manuel Fernandez
added it
The book was terrificly good! David LaRochelle really put forth effort and he appeared to be very determined to have a book so outstandingly done, and he achieved it. He incorporates many literary techniques to create this fiction novel where everything is so well put that even the slightest detail has been paid attention to so that the book makes total sense. It is not too hard that the reader has to stop and analyze every detail, but it is not easy enough, either, so that you may find it borin...more
To me, the strength of this book is how fast it made me read it. I'm normally a pretty slow reader but there was something uber endearing about this one. I think I was just really curious to see how it would turn out.
Upon skimming some of these Goodreads reviews, I see that some readers call it really unrealistic, but I imagine that everyone's coming out to their friends and family is a bit different. I can't say for sure if it was unrealistic or not. Plus, it might get some gay teens to finally...more
Upon skimming some of these Goodreads reviews, I see that some readers call it really unrealistic, but I imagine that everyone's coming out to their friends and family is a bit different. I can't say for sure if it was unrealistic or not. Plus, it might get some gay teens to finally...more
May 06, 2012
Eric
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
teachers, children, gay and lesbians individuals
Recommended to Eric by:
self
Shelves:
lgbt,
young-adult
LaRochelle creates a story here that is deeply rooted in the real coming out experience of a gay individual. He is able to convey the real painful emotions that a person feels when they are trying to make that choice to finally tell people. He also does a masterful job of conveying the fear that the character's parents has with their son being gay. In many instances the author takes what one would think and flips it around, such as the father being the most accepting of the main character.I reco...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Absolutely Positively Not...GAY is such a great book. When I first noticed the existance about that book was when one of my friend did a book talk about it, which made me read it.The first part was really interesting because it started talking about this guy that doesn't really know his actual sexuality atraction.He starts dating different types of people to know if he is gay or not.Also,on the ending it was kind of confusing but then you start to noticed that it have sense.
I really recommended...more
I really recommended...more
The stereotypical mother really bothered me, but worse when in the space of only one afternoon she suddenly goes from neurotic and controlling stereotype to perfectly understanding and cool? That's just bad writing. Worse, when the kid finally gets up the bravery to connect with another gay boy, it happens in a completely unrealistic way that doesn't even work on a fantasy level. It's funny in spots in an "American Pie" kind of way, but really the only redeeming quality is it is a novel about a...more
This was a nice enough book. The one thing that really got to me about it comes from the fact that I read this book immediately after reading Totally Joe by James Howe. Both books featured identical secondary characters, namely the uber-feminist best friend who is, naturally, the one who lands the boyfriend. Because of this huge similarity, I had a bit of trouble finding anything that made this book stand out from other coming-out stories.
That aside, this book was really enjoyable. Somewhat pre...more
That aside, this book was really enjoyable. Somewhat pre...more
Very quick read, did it in a few hours. I have to read it for class and overall I've loved the books the teacher has picked up until this one. It was funny in places, but I guess I thought it would have more depth given the caliber she's been picking. It's basically about a 16 yr old teenage boy named Steven who is the perfect son and spotlessly cleans his room (his mom is coincidently writing a book called "The Clean Teen"). He even takes his mom square-dancing every week, which he really loves...more
Originally reviewed at Minnesota Reads.
Sixteen-year-old Steven is absolutely positively not gay. Liking square dancing and having a slight attraction to the hot male substitute teacher doesn't mean he's gay, does it?
Thinking he can't be gay, Steven takes some tips from a book on how to cure homosexuality. He sits at the jock's table at lunch hoping the masculinity will transfer to him. He goes out on some awkward dates with girls. He even tries some aversion therapy by putting a rubber band on h...more
Sixteen-year-old Steven is absolutely positively not gay. Liking square dancing and having a slight attraction to the hot male substitute teacher doesn't mean he's gay, does it?
Thinking he can't be gay, Steven takes some tips from a book on how to cure homosexuality. He sits at the jock's table at lunch hoping the masculinity will transfer to him. He goes out on some awkward dates with girls. He even tries some aversion therapy by putting a rubber band on h...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Oct 07, 2009
Kris
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
the-tasting-from-my-blog
My Tasting:
Why I bought it:
I've been going through the YA books on Lee Wind's site and this blurb caught my imagination.
Dislike/like (ending on a high note):
Dislike~ Or more of a warning~ The people who think we're living in a gay utopia where all stories should reflect queer experiences where everyone automatically accepts and believes everything about themselves and each other and that this magically makes everything alright in the world should probably stay away from this book.
Like~ What I li...more
Why I bought it:
I've been going through the YA books on Lee Wind's site and this blurb caught my imagination.
Dislike/like (ending on a high note):
Dislike~ Or more of a warning~ The people who think we're living in a gay utopia where all stories should reflect queer experiences where everyone automatically accepts and believes everything about themselves and each other and that this magically makes everything alright in the world should probably stay away from this book.
Like~ What I li...more
While the vocabulary, dialogue, and style of the writing are not especially distinctive, the topic of the book is timely and unique. The book merits discussion based on the clever way it deals with the topics of homosexuality and acceptance. Librarians very well may face issues of censorship or lack of with parents, students, or the gay population. Knowing that literature like this is available in such an accessible format is quite valuable knowledge.
I really enjoyed this book. There was a gre...more
I really enjoyed this book. There was a gre...more
May 11, 2007
Carly
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of humor, teens struggling w/sexuality issues, everyone
Shelves:
alreadyread-childrensbooks
I had to think hard about whether to rate this book 4 or 5 stars, but I'm just going to take the plunge and say it's a 5. I can't believe the average rating is only 3.75. Seriously, this is a PHENOMENAL book. I now think David LaRochelle is an authorial genius and I want to track down and read all of his other material, even though all his other works are picture books and I hate picture books. Actually, I just wrote a picture book, so I'm going to stop contradicting myself now.
ANYWAY, if you're...more
ANYWAY, if you're...more
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“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. Guys who are gay do not keep Playboy magazines in their bedrooms.”
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1 person liked it
“I tried to think of a good reason as to why I had a sex book down my pants, but my brain refused to work.”
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1 person liked it
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Feb 04, 2013 08:06pm