A Vigil for Joe Rose: Stories of Being Out in High School

by Michael Whatling

What is it like to be "out" in high school today? Is homophobia still rampant, or have things changed? How do the reactions of students, teachers, administrators, and families affect the out gay student? A Vigil for Joe Rose is a collection of stories told with empathy and humour about the experience of being out in high school. As a unified collection, these eight short stories and a novella chart the journey of the main characters from first coming out to their growth into confident young gay men, and the challenges, triumphs, and losses along the way. A unique "insider's look" told from the point-of-view of teens in high school. Includes the hit novella The Last Coming Out Story What readers are saying about A Vigil for Joe Rose . . . "Original and very compelling." "An intelligent and elegant strike against prejudice that doesn't sacrifice readability in the name of issues." "Written from the soul with great dignity, charm and wit." "The characters are engaging and I still find myself thinking about them long after finishing." "This definitely rises above the pack of recent coming out stories and adds interesting new dimensions." "It should help to break down barriers in the struggle for acceptance, no matter how disillusioning it is to see that the battle still has to be fought. This is a great work."

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Michael Whatling began his career as a technical writer for engineering firms in Canada and Japan. Leaving to teach at the secondary and university levels, he returned to writing by penning A Vigil for Joe Rose, a collection of young adult short stories, based on his doctoral research, that made the American Library Association’s Rainbow List.

He’s the writer of the award-winning independent film, “The Dancing Dogs of Dombrova.”

Reviews

[Gerry Burnie]

Gerry B's Book Reviews - http://gerrycan.wordpress.com

(I reviewed this book some time ago, but I neglected to post it on Goodreads)

I first encountered Michael Whatling’s writing on Authonomy. It was with regard to the novella, The Last Coming Out Story, now published as part of a collection called, A Vigil for Joe Rose [iUniverse, 2008]. At the time I was impressed by his skill, but finding Authonomy too much of a popularity contest cum paper chase, I didn’t revisit it until recently. That’s when I learned of Michael’s published work.

To appreciate the nature of this work the reader should first take note of the introduction, wherein Whatling explains that the genesis is found in his doctoral research, and that, although it is a fictionalized account, it is based on interviews with actual gay students, i.e. a “non-fiction novel,” á-la-Truman Capote’s ”In Cold Blood.”

In this regard, Whatling has done a superb job of shining the spotlight on the thinking of sixteen to eighteen-year-olds, who happen to be gay, out, and attending high school. Sometimes the ‘coming out’ is intentional and planned, and sometimes it is not. “Losing control of the process,” it is called in “Elton John, Uncle Dave, and Me,” and that is a frightening process. “The Holy Ghost” explores teacher homophobia, and “A Lesson on Being Inseparable” tells the tale of a boy who is dedicated to teaching younger students about sexual orientation. Therefore, a wide range of perspectives are explored with the same sort of insight.

Best developed, in my opinion, is “The Last Coming Out Story,” which probably best fulfills the “non-fiction novel” function as well. It is a postmodern take on the ubiquitous coming out story. How does the president of the school’s “Rainbow Club” go from being the most popular student to the most hated? Though not for being gay.

So far. so good. The writing is very strong throughout, and one cannot be overly critical regarding the facts. After all, non-fiction is its own defense. However, when this is combined with the requisites of a novel (per se), the ordinary rules of entertainment apply. In this regard there was a sameness among the various short stories, and a lack of any real conflict. “Episodes in Fear: Mathews Story,” comes fairly close, but otherwise there is no real ‘high drama’ On the other hand, the factual account of Joe Rose’s murder is high drama enough. (See above)

A compelling read. Four-and-one-half stars.

[J Tremblay]

I was surprised that this book wasn’t non-fiction, but, rather, reads like a book of fiction although the introduction states it is based on true stories. Once I got over that, though, it was a very good read. Very accessible by its format. While some of the stories don’t always have a lot going on with regards to what happens action-wise, they really give insight into what it’s like to be gay and out in high school. I’ve never encountered a book like that and I doubt there are any.

The most enjoyable story is the novella, The Last Coming Out Story. It opened a world that I never knew about. And it’s very funny. I found myself laughing out loud when I never do that when reading.

All in all this is an important book that should be read by everyone in education. There are some amazing stories here and while it’s not what I expected, I’m glad I read it.

[Melissa Wehunt]

A Vigil for Joe Rose: Stories of Being Out in High School by Michael Whatling (2008)