Singlets and Secrets, by Joe Chianakas

[Ulysses]

Singlets and Secrets (Unveiling Aiden, 1)
By Joe Chianakas
Published by Mad Cat Books, 2023
Four stars

I never cease to be amazed at how the classic tropes of YA novels can be molded and shaped into something emotionally fresh and—in the case of this book—surprisingly harrowing. As a gay man who came out nearly 50 years ago, I am always startled at how rough it can still be for young LGBTQ people to find their way. The things I had half a century ago—supportive parents, an evolving church community, and good luck (right place, right time)—still don’t exist for all teenagers coming to grips with who they are. With the divisiveness in our nation today, things are even more unsure right now than they were, say, fifteen years ago. As Aiden says: “I don’t give a crap what the law is or how much everyone on TV supports gay pride. That’s not my reality.”

That’s why books like this matter. Young people need them. Hell, I need them, and my husband of 48 years and I have kids in their late twenties.

Aiden Rothe is fourteen. Desperate not to feel weak and to make some friends in his first year of high school, he joins the wrestling team. There he meets the JV wrestling captain, tall, handsome, athletic Mateo Hernandez. It’s a classic YA trope, but Chianakis throws in a bitter twist, in the form of a vicious bully of a wrestling coach, in league with his brother-in-law, a police captain with a similar narrow-minded perspective.

On the other hand, we have Aiden’s supportive teacher, Lloyd Samuels, and Aiden’s feisty, loving mother, Susan Gardner. They create the counterbalance against the despair radiating from the grown-up bullies out to ruin Aiden’s life in the name of prejudice. As Aiden’s friend DeMarcus notes, “Once you tolerate intolerance, it’s like opening a door to some crazy, bigoted past.”

This is not about good people and bad people, but about how bad people can terribly influence young minds and create a new generation of bigots and bullies. Like I said, seen through Aiden’s eyes, this is a harrowing story that we get to experience right along with him.

I was surprised to see that this is the first of a planned series. Good. I’d like to see where Aiden goes from here. He’s so like me at that age, it hurts.