Exiled To Iowa. Send Help. And Couture - Chris O' Guinn

[Charles]

This is the story of me, Collin Murray, a bright, witty and charming L.A. teen who is cruelly transported to a small town in Iowa by parents who delight in my suffering. It tells the tale of my struggles against such obstacles as flannel, packs of bullies, lack of car, hoodies, crazy English teachers and vengeful former friends. It is an epic tale of survival in a savage denim wilderness.


Let me get this out of the way right away. I love this author's works.

Whether they fall into the YA category, as this one does, or under his (hot, hot, hot) erotic scribblings under his pseudonym of D. River. (Sus libros son muy caliente y sexy!) He has not, so far, set a foot wrong, at least in my not-so-humble estimation. My only complaint is that his body of work isn't larger, but we'll get to that later (as a spoiler.)

Brown lipstick thickly applied, let me get on with reviewing Exiled.

I believe this was Chris' first published mainstream (i.e., YA) novel and, despite him telling me that I don't (or shouldn't), I actually liked Exiled a tiny bit better than the equally-wonderful Fearless, his second YA-genre story.

Perhaps it's because this story seems to have set the paradigm that Chris uses, and tweaks, in his subsequent novel. (My paean to that work can be found elsewhere in this thread.)

First, take two "loser" kids. In this case: Collin ("Col") Murray, who has been "exiled" from Santa Monica, CA (by what Bush's lousy economy did to his dad's job) to *eesh* Buford, IA. *Buford, really??* This kid just can't catch a break. Our second sad-sack is the hoodie-wearing Austin: an unfortunate Buford resident who is, apparently, the "school nutjob" and who, rumor has it, blew up his last school! Worse, Austin is the son of the Herbert Hoover High School(!) basketball coach. The same coach who is screwing with Col's basketball-star brother's chances for a scholarship. Are Collin and Austin gonna hook up? Does God make little green apples?

Col has an older, extremely athletic brother, Shawn, (the aforementioned basketball-playing star) who quickly turns the older-brother/jerk-jock stereotype totally on its head. Shawn actually cares about, and protects, his gay little brother. In return, Col wants to make sure that Shawn, who has been promised a full-ride scholarship if he can only get his ass back to L.A., the opportunity to achieve his life's desire.

There are other pals for Collin along the way: Keith, apparently afflicted with OCD or ADHD; Becca, his older sister, who quickly becomes a pal to Col, and who watches out as carefully for her brother as Shawn does for his; and another buddy, Billy, who soon falls for Becca, with hijinks ensuing. Finally, there is the usual assortment of jerks, jocks, schlemiels and unexpected allies that are as necessary to fuel these stories as charcoal starter is for Dad's July 4th BBQ.

Col's founding of the HHHS Drama Club is (almost) every gay boy's dream; and his subsequent assignment, by his African-American principal, to start the HHHS Gay/Straight Alliance is *yes* heart-warming.

If all this sounds a bit vague, it's because I read this book so damn long ago that I've forgotten a helluva lot of the finer plot points. But one thing I know is that I loved the whole dang book and, for you YA adherents, the novel is a straight-on bull's-eye. FYI: any type of sexual activity is minimal to non-existent; but the romance is to sigh for.

This is a book that I damn well intend to reread....because I do that with all Chris' books. They're that good.

So, if you're a fan of the YA genre, or have kids you'd like to educate about the differences and similarities between gay boyz and straight boys, you can't go wrong with this novel any more than you could with my equally-loved Fearless.

This story feels like my baby. It lead me, in reverse chronological order, as I always seem to do with these things, to Fearless. (The foregoing actually makes no sense since, obviously, Fearless got me to read Exiled, but just go with the damned flow I'm trying to establish here, please!)

He's going to hate me, but I have to say that I think that, along with Brent Hartinger, J.H. Trumble, and whomever else is your fave YA author, Chris O'Guinn ("COG") has established a well-deserved place amongst that group of YA authors every parent should have on hand (just in case.)

(view spoiler)[And he's writing - oh God, is he sllloooowwwwllllyyyy writing, his very own Harry Potter/Hunger Games series about ELFs (you can't Google it, and it ain't paranormal) meeting humans for nifty reasons. That's all I'll say, except that I wanna be first in line to get a galley edition. (hide spoiler)].

I love this author. And he gives good HDTV-buying advice.