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31st out of 52 books
—
87 voters
Crossing Lines
by
Paul Volponi (Goodreads Author)
Adonis is a jock. He's on the football team and he's dating one of the prettiest girls in school. Alan is the new kid. He wears lipstick and joins the Fashion Club. Soon enough the football team is out to get him. Adonis is glad to go along with his teammates . . . until they come up with a dangerous plan to humiliate Alan. Now Adonis must decide whether he wants to be a g...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
June 9th 2011
by Viking Juvenile
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Adonis likes hanging out with his football playing friends and the girl he would like to have as his girlfriend, Melody. When Melody and Adonis' sister, Jeannie, get involved in a Fashion Club, Adonis is uncomfortable because one of the very active members is Alan. The football players all think that Alan is gay, but it is more likely that Alan is transgendered. This doesn't really make a difference to the football players; they use every opportunity to give Alan a hard time. Adonis is uncomfort...more
This was a pretty impressive book. There were characters I loved and characters I hated, and the conflict was strong for the entire book. Right up until the end I had no idea what would happen.
Adonis's father was a jerk for most of the book and I couldn't stand him or the other football players. I could see Adonis wavering between the team and his own feelings, and while I didn't like that he struggled, I could see it. It was realistic. I also felt the home turmoil was real, too. The "embarassm...more
Adonis's father was a jerk for most of the book and I couldn't stand him or the other football players. I could see Adonis wavering between the team and his own feelings, and while I didn't like that he struggled, I could see it. It was realistic. I also felt the home turmoil was real, too. The "embarassm...more
24 November 2010 CROSSING LINES by Paul Volponi, Viking, June 2011, 256p., ISBN: 978-0-670-01214-5
"He mentioned the steamboats, soldiers, and soap, and called the baseball team the 'Red Stockings-slash-Reds.
'"Then Alan said, 'Cincinnati is also called the Queen City.
'"I almost fell out of my seat when he said it.
"Toby and a couple of other guys laughed out loud, and I swore I heard Marshall say 'ho-mo' inside of clearing his throat.
"'Quiet! Quiet down! shouted D'Antoni, nearly losing his hippie...more
"He mentioned the steamboats, soldiers, and soap, and called the baseball team the 'Red Stockings-slash-Reds.
'"Then Alan said, 'Cincinnati is also called the Queen City.
'"I almost fell out of my seat when he said it.
"Toby and a couple of other guys laughed out loud, and I swore I heard Marshall say 'ho-mo' inside of clearing his throat.
"'Quiet! Quiet down! shouted D'Antoni, nearly losing his hippie...more
I liked this one more than I thought I would. However, I didn't think any of the characters were all that well fleshed out. They were definitely all pieces of an ISSUE rather than characters going through the challenges of confronting their own beliefs about sexuality. Adonis had no outside interests except football, which felt almost like a stereotype in and of itself. Alan had only the fashion club. None of the secondary characters were more than one note for me.
The writing itself served the s...more
The writing itself served the s...more
How do you respond when a clearly different student transfers to your school and makes friends with your sister...when your own friends are prone to bully a ridicule the new kid? That is the question faced by high school football player Adonis when he meets Alan, a cross-dresser who becomes not only president of the fashion club but the target of unrelenting scorn from Adonis' teammates and father.
Overall I found the book to be quite enjoyable, with a message that aches to be explored and expre...more
Overall I found the book to be quite enjoyable, with a message that aches to be explored and expre...more
This story deals with a high school football jock, named Adonis (and getting away with that name), faced with a new cross-dressing student, Alan and his homophobic teammates. Adonis is determined to keep his spot in the high school hierarchy and gain the beautiful girl. When Alan becomes friends with Adonis' sister--President and Vice-President of the school's fashion club--Adonis fears he will be tainted by association with the boy everyone thinks is gay. As the bullying of Alan, now nicknamed...more
What I really liked about Paul Volponi's novel, Crossing Lines, is the way he uses each character to further the confusion of the main character, Adonis. He's a guy's guy with a conscience and doesn't really say how he feels all the time. But Adonis has depth of character and he agonizes about his relationship with Melody, his body image, and his "rep" on the football team. Adonis has a strong family with an attentive firefighter dad, a mother who is a caring mother and teacher, gently admonishi...more
"Crossing Lines" by Paul Volponi is about accepting people for who they are and taking a stand against your friends if they are hurting someone. Alan, president of the fashion club, wore lipstick and dresses to school. No wonder the other boys teased him! The girls, however, helped dress him up and gave him perfume. Adonis found himself embarrassed that his sister hung around with Alan and even had him come over to his house. Adonis was on the football team and his teammates were his friends. Ad...more
Writing a review for this has not been easy. I wanted to wait, let the book sit with me for a bit. I liked the premise: what does bullying look like from the POV of a reluctant bully? Adonis is on the football team, likes the cute and popular girl, and travels with a group of "typical" high school jocks. Enter Alan: new in school and gay -- double whammy. Adonis struggles with wanting to fit in with his friends, but also realizes that to get the girl -- and maybe, it's the right thing to do anyw...more
High-school football player is forced to interact with effeminate new student in this after-school special disguised as a YA book. Oh my goodness is this book preachy. Do I agree with the lessons Mr. Volponi wants to convey about tolerance and individuality? YES. Do I wish the book had toned down said lessons in favor of telling what could have been a truly moving story? YES, YES, YES. Mr. Volponi creates an amazing voice for his narrator, Adonis, an offensive lineman who is a guy’s guy. It’s a...more
This is a fairly ordinary and predicatble story, except that the plot centers around a high school student who decides to come out of the closet as a transvestite when he enters a new school. His father is a military recruiter, and completely the tough-guy bully. Alan/Alana helps form a Fashion club at the school with many girls, who totally support him in his process - while their boyfriends on the football team are totally threatened as is the main character's father, a firefighter. There is o...more
Adonis wants to fit in. Fit in with the football team, keep his good looking girlfriend, and do what's right at home with his parents and sister. He doesn't know how he's going to handle his true feelings/ thoughts and do what's right when the new kid, Alan, at school is gay. Alan hangs out with his sister all the time due to the Fashion Club and comes over. How does Adonis handle hanging with the football guys who bully Alan, how can he step up and be the good guy his girlfriend thinks he is, a...more
Unlike the comparatively gentle action in Luna, transgender teen Alan is playing out his gender identity questions in full view of his high school classmates. Some like Jeanie and his other friends in the Fashion Club, are supportive when Alan begins to wear make-up and more feminine clothing. Others, like Jeannie’s brother Adonis, are repulsed by Alan and find it hard to resist participating or at least agreeing with the bullying and put-downs served up to Alan by members of the football team....more
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Loved this book! Mr. Volponi creates such dynamic characters that pull you in and help you understand the complexities of being a young person in todays society. Adonis knows what he feels in his heart and tries to make everyone happy, but in the end he has to be true to himself. I also liked how the character, Alan is introduced. This encourages the reader to better understand a way of life they may never have any exposure to. Alan is a brave and dynamic character who helps Adonis to be a bette...more
Meh. This word about describes this book.
Not because the subject matter is not a pressing one. Respecting transgender people and people in the LGBT community in general is a noble goal and one that I believe everyone should be a part of.
No, this book was just uncaptivating. Alana was definitely the best character in it. Other than that, the lead character was very irritating in my opinion. He is a jock who has absolutely zero regard for anyone but himself and how he is presented to his team ma...more
Not because the subject matter is not a pressing one. Respecting transgender people and people in the LGBT community in general is a noble goal and one that I believe everyone should be a part of.
No, this book was just uncaptivating. Alana was definitely the best character in it. Other than that, the lead character was very irritating in my opinion. He is a jock who has absolutely zero regard for anyone but himself and how he is presented to his team ma...more
Crossing Lines
By: Paul Volponi
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Date Published: 2011
Crossing Lines is basically about this boy named Alan (later Alana) who transfers to Central High and the troubles he goes through. Alan gets made fun of a lot, especially by the football team because he looks and sort of acts like a girl, and he joins the fashion club which is all composed of girls (other than him). One kid on the team, Adonis, feels that what they are doing and saying to Alan is wrong although he goes al...more
By: Paul Volponi
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Date Published: 2011
Crossing Lines is basically about this boy named Alan (later Alana) who transfers to Central High and the troubles he goes through. Alan gets made fun of a lot, especially by the football team because he looks and sort of acts like a girl, and he joins the fashion club which is all composed of girls (other than him). One kid on the team, Adonis, feels that what they are doing and saying to Alan is wrong although he goes al...more
Adonis plays on his high school football team and all of his best friends are football jocks. He has just started dating Melody, one of the hottest girls at school. Alan is the new person at school. He is the only boy in the Fashion Club and a kid who refuses to conform. Alan is openly mocked and ridiculed by Adonis’ friends. Things take a turn for the worse when Alan begins openly wearing lipstick and dresses at school. He even embraces the name the jocks have been calling him, Alana. Adonis fi...more
Realistic portrayal of GLBTQ bullying
In Paul Volponi’s CROSSING LINES, Adonis is a normal teenage guy: one who plays on the football team, wants to date the hot girl, and just wants to fit in. When new student Alan enrolls at his school and becomes the butt of everyone’s homophobic jokes, Adonis has to decide where he stands. Does he side with his sister and his potential girlfriend, both of whom support Alan’s lipstick-wearing ways? Or does he does go along with the team and humiliate Alan at e...more
In Paul Volponi’s CROSSING LINES, Adonis is a normal teenage guy: one who plays on the football team, wants to date the hot girl, and just wants to fit in. When new student Alan enrolls at his school and becomes the butt of everyone’s homophobic jokes, Adonis has to decide where he stands. Does he side with his sister and his potential girlfriend, both of whom support Alan’s lipstick-wearing ways? Or does he does go along with the team and humiliate Alan at e...more
Crossing Lines will make some people uncomfortable, and that's a great thing! This new YA novel by the King of Urban Fiction addressed a very difficult, painful issue "forced" on students by Alan/Alana who is gay and a crossdresser. The story's point-of-view is presented by Adonis, a football star who doesn't feel comfortable with Alan/Alana's overt sexuality and could even be considered "homophobic." Alan/Alana divides the kids at the school. He's supported by the members of The Fashion Club (A...more
Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
Adonis is a popular football player with an attractive girlfriend. That's what he considers normal - until he meets Alan. Alan is the new kid, and it is obvious from the start that he is different.
It turns out that Alan is popular with the girls but in a different way. He has a keen interest in fashion and all things feminine. When Adonis's sister and all of her friends create an official high school Fashion Club, Alan becomes a loy...more
Adonis is a popular football player with an attractive girlfriend. That's what he considers normal - until he meets Alan. Alan is the new kid, and it is obvious from the start that he is different.
It turns out that Alan is popular with the girls but in a different way. He has a keen interest in fashion and all things feminine. When Adonis's sister and all of her friends create an official high school Fashion Club, Alan becomes a loy...more
I had a chance to read an ARC of Crossing Lines in November of 2010, and as soon as I turned the final page, I knew that this would be one of my most powerful books of the year. I read the entirety of Crossing Lines in one day, which is rare feat for me, even in the case of short books. I honestly could not put this book down.
Crossing Lines centers around Adonis, a high school student hoping to prove his worth to others around him. His life is pretty okay until his sister, Jeannie, starts hangin...more
As I considered ideas I want freshmen to think about, this book offers ideas into "Where do you stand?" and "For what do you stand?" Alan is definitely a cross-dresser and the football team and others act in stereotypical ways. This book would lend itself well to a small class or whole class discussion about differences. Using poems by Walt Whitman this is what the reader learns, we are all the same in that we're all different. It's a nice way to think about introducing freshmen to high school.
A pretty heavy handed take on gay prejudice in high school. I suppose there really are schools and situations where there is unrelenting gay bullying and bashing going on -but you would think that in urban settings where kids are more exposed to gay people (anybody watching Glee?)it would be more, um, subtle? And the gay kid in question wasn't exactly typical - I might have a problem with unsophisticated kids reading this book and thinking that all gay men wear lipstick and dresses every day. No...more
The book was well written and probably relatable to a lot of teens. However, I think that for the very people who need to learn the lessons taught in this book, the way it is written would turn them off of reading it. It had a very specific purpose and that is to educate people on this issues. Someone who is homophobic or transphobic would probably not be likely to pick this book up in the first place, so it feels a little bit like a wasted lesson.
A well written account of prejudice and fear. Surrounded by his football teammates, Adonis must overcome his personal prejudices and need to fit in in order to become the person he wants to be. Alan too must figure out who he is and how he can fit in in a world that really doesn't understand or accept him for who he wants to be.
Aug 06, 2011
Madison Salem
added it
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click here.
If you have seen an episode of Glee and watched Kurt flinch and stick up for himself when being berated and bullied by the football team, you will instantly have a connection to this book. Easy read for anyone, has enough of a sports dynamic that will keep boys interested, too.
Jul 24, 2012
Karen
added it
Teen novel, intersection of a football team, one recently out male, and the female friends that surround him. One character has to make some tough decisions about being true to himself. Nicely covers the topic (writing could have been one higher though).
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Aug 16, 2012 08:41pm