What YA Friendly Book Are You Currently Reading? Showing 151-200 of 1,359

[Kaje]

For the adults, I want to put a word out for Outtakes Of A Walking Mistake which is nominated for a book of the month over on the M/M thread. It would be cool to see a YA book up there. (My own Lies and Consequences is also nominated, but you know, I had Life Lessons as BotM this month and I think it's someone else's turn, however flattered I may be.) So if you're a member you might see if OOAWM is your choice to vote for.

[Kaje]

Anke wrote: "Just finished The Benefit of Ductwork by Kira Harp - hand-me-the-kleenex-please-good! Sorry, if I'm nr. whatever mentioning this book:)"

Whatever nr. is, I'm glad you liked and mentioned the story :)

[Jo]

In some states in the US the age of consent is 18... I think that's why publishers usually won't publish anything with explicit sex with characters under 18, whether it's designated as YA or as romance. (Though I will say I've read more explicit sex scenes in YA novels than in romance novels with underage characters...)

Then again, publishers' definitions of explicit vary a lot... Featherweight considers "no penetrative sex" to be its cut-off, but there was a scene in AKM Miles's Undercover Assignment (the YA version of For Gom's Sake) that was way too explicit for my comfort zone, and I chose not to let my daughters read that book because of it. Same with one of the scenes in Wrestling with... sorry, brain cramp...whichever Wrestling book by D.H. Starr is published by Featherweight. I didn't have a problem with the content, but when a scene mentions ejaculation in detail, it crosses a line for me in a YA novel. (Note that I'm not saying NO teens should read these; for my comfort level and that of my daughters, I choose not to let MY OWN KIDS read them.)

On the other hand, in my novel Fresh Meat, which will be out in August (I think) from Featherweight, there's a scene in which the narrator is raped. It isn't explicit; I focused on what he's feeling emotionally and on the fact that it hurts, and don't mention what's actually being done. I still told Ralph I want a trigger warning on the book, though, and when we get to edits I may end up having to tone it down a bit.

My comfort zone for YA comes from a deep, dark place, though, so I struggle with some content that most people wouldn't even blink at. I wasn't even comfortable having my 15-year-old narrator in Fresh Meat say he gets a hard-on when the guy he's crushing on kisses him.

[Jo]

And that whole post may belong in a different thread...sorry. I'm in an analytical mood today. LOL

[Kaje]

Jo wrote: "And that whole post may belong in a different thread...sorry. I'm in an analytical mood today. LOL"

It's relevant, I think (although we do have the TMI thread.) Comfort levels certainly vary, as do state laws. Another book that would be great YA but just came in slightly over my threshold was Dawn of Darkness. Just one scene and I would let my own daughter read it, but you probably wouldn't give it to yours. As a writer it's such a judgment call and a decision about the audience you want. Like the amount of swearing you put in. I struggled with that for Intervention and Ductwork, which had emotional scenes that seemed to call for swearing but also YA characters and hopefully readers.

The YA book I'm reading now and will review as Kira is The Rules for Hearts. F/F and I'm enjoying it. It's very clean/fade to black, which I do prefer in F/F especially as I like the emotions but have less interest in the physical relationship.

[Jo]

Dawn of Darkness looks interesting. I would have to read it first to decide whether I'd be okay with my 16-year-old reading it. (My 13-year-old, definitely not, but not because of sexual content; anything with vampires gives her nightmares.)

Swearing's definitely a tricky thing. I caught myself using two swear words on one page of the novel I'm working on now; one of them needs to be there, I think, but I'll probably change the other one.

I did a fade-to-black scene in my next Dark Lines book that resulted in Ralph saying, "Huh? Did they have sex?" I might have faded a wee bit too much. LOL

[Kaje]

Jo wrote: "I did a fade-to-black scene in my next Dark Lines book that resulted in Ralph saying, "Huh? Did they have sex?" I might have faded a wee bit too much. LOL
..."

LOL. Yeah, a tough call. I enjoyed DoD - it felt like good YA, and I have no problem with it for my 15 yr old. My one hesitation would be that there has to be a sequel and since Daniel isn't aiming it YA, there is no way to tell what the content may be there. So I'm waiting.

[Nathan]

Randy wrote: "HERO was a great book. Ireally enjoyed it. It was so sad the authos killed himself. Siicode is such a waste."

WOW. I only just started reading this. Way to give away the ending!! *facepalm* Oh well, mostly my fault I suppose. LOL.

[Anthony]

Hey Guys:

As Kaje mentioned, my first novel, , is nominated for the M/M February Book of The Month in the M/M Romance group. If you're an adult, please vote! It would be great to have YA book up there! Here's the link: http://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/59...

[Sammy Goode]

Anthony wrote: "Hey Guys:

As Kaje mentioned, my first novel, , is nominated for the M/M February Book of The Month in the M/M Romance group. If you're an adult, p..."

Oh yay!! Anthony Paull--I am so thrilled for you dear, dear man!!! Going off to vote!

[[deleted user]]

Trevor wrote: "WOW. I only just started reading this. Way to give away the ending!! *..."

No, no - that's in reference to the book's writer. Perry Moore died of a drug overdose some months ago. Very sad.

[Anthony]

Thanks for the vote, Sammy! Every vote counts! I appreciate it! :) Much love!

[Jo]

Good luck, Anthony! Outtakes was a great book!

[Nathan]

Hayden wrote: "Trevor wrote: "WOW. I only just started reading this. Way to give away the ending!! *..."

No, no - that's in reference to the book's writer. Perry Moore died of a drug overdose some months ago. Ve..."

Oh! That's awful.

[Kira]

Just finished - I enjoyed it. It's as much about families and siblings as it is about the MC learning how to deal with a difficult F/F relationship.

Now I'm starting .

[Gavin]

Just finished reading

Hero by Perry Moore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Thom, a young boy becoming a man, lives in a world where comic book heroes exist and finds himself numbered among them. Struggling to deal with his own supper powers and dealing with his life as a gay man in a very homophobic world. His absent mother with her supper power and his dad a failed supper hero he deals with loneliness and isolation. He develops a bond with Goran, an immigrant from a distant land through basketball as he tries out for the Justice League. When he comes out publicly he is shunned by the League and society. Through this dark time he learns the value of true friends and when the chips are down and the one person that the world thought they could trust goes horribly wrong he, his team, his parents, and Goran come to his aid to save the world.

Perry Moore writes in a style that brings the thrill of chase to life. You find yourself drawn to Thom and his plight. The action is quick and draws you forward to the conclusion even if it is a little predictable.



View all my reviews

Still reading
and will start Sunset by Arshad Ahsanuddin next.

[Jo]

Just finished Sprout by Dale Peck. The story jumps around a lot in places, but I connected immediately with the narrator, and I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen.

The main character is a gay boy in a small Kansas town where if anyone else is gay, they don't admit it. He has the requisite sassy female bestie (who reminded me of the bestie in Outtakes). He also has a closeted sort-of-sexual relationship with the school jock; closeted literally, since most of their, er, encounters take place in the janitor's closet. And then he falls in love...

There is implied sex, and mentions of "having sex", but nothing even remotely explicit. (A couple times I had to reread to make sure what I thought had happened, had.) My only complaint is that the ending is sad. But it's definitely YA appropriate, and a very enjoyable read.

[Kaje]

I liked Sprout, ending and all. I just started - it's a lot of fun so far; two MC narrators who are twins - a girl and a gay boy.

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime]

Yesterday and today I found three YA books I really love:

All 3 had great plotting, but what I loved was the excellent writing and the way all three authors got inside the minds and souls of their characters. I highly recommend all three. And I go through books so fast, I'll have more recommends any time now.:)

[Icy-Cobwebs-Crossing-SpaceTime]

Zach, sounds excellent, put that on my to-read list, thanks

[Kaje]

Mallory Anne-Marie wrote: "Zach, sounds excellent, put that on my to-read list, thanks"

I liked that one a lot, and the sequel even better. They are definitely aimed YA, but well done.

[Kaje]

Meagan wrote: "I'm reading . I've been wanting to read this book for years but I finally found it."

OMG, you've never met Ratty and Mole. You are in for a treat.

[Jo]

I read a book that I'm debating whether to classify as YA-appropriate (so I won't put the title here until I decide). It's from Dreamspinner, which leads me to believe it's intended as adult, but aside from one somewhat explicit scene that does not involve penetration, there's nothing inappropriate in it, and the characters are high school students. (If anyone's read Undercover Assignment by AKM Miles, the one scene is about as explicit as the scene(s? been a while since I read it) in U.A.)

[Kaje]

Jo wrote: "I read a book that I'm debating whether to classify as YA-appropriate (so I won't put the title here until I decide). It's from Dreamspinner, which leads me to believe it's intended as adult, but a..."

Your call - you can PM me, if it's not a new release I may have read it too. Some books straddle the edge; if they are otherwise really good I lean toward listing them.

[Jo]

Okay, so after consulting people who are smarter than I... the book that I mentioned is Maybe With a Chance of Certainty by John Goode. I don't think it's a YA book, but the characters are in high school. As I mentioned, there's one scene that's kind of explicit, but nothing I haven't seen in other YA books.

It's about an openly gay teen who falls-mutually-for the school jock, who is very much in the closet. There's a happy ending, but that's all I'm gonna say because the rest would be spoileriffic...

[Kaje]

Alex wrote: "I'm reading The Persian Boy (not exactly out and proud gay, but discretely) courtesy of our dear Sammy, who also sent me Hero, which I'll be reading soon. This reminds me, I need to go to the libra..."

I loved The Persian Boy

@ Jo - what the heck do you mean smarter than you? I have that one on my TBR list - will move it up a notch.

[Jo]

I haven't had much sleep the past couple days because of moving...at this point, an eggplant may be smarter than I am. LOL

[Kaje]

Jo wrote: "I haven't had much sleep the past couple days because of moving...at this point, an eggplant may be smarter than I am. LOL"

That's not good. Here's hoping for a quick end to the moving upheaval and a regeneration of the brain cells.

[Shalvia]

I'm reading I Am J right now and loving it!

[Kaje]

Thanks, I'd never heard of that one. Sounds fascinating. We'll be interested if you review it. I've added it to our group shelves.

[Kaje]

I found another group with a YA GLBT bookshelf. If someone is bored they could cruise it and see if anything there looks like it should be added to our shelves.
http://www.goodreads.com/group/booksh...

[Kaje]

Meagan wrote: "When I get my huge as beep Goodreads' currently reading list defeated I plan on reading Keeping You a Secret because I loved reading Luna. ..."

The discussion thread will stay open even when we move to the next BotM; I'll be interested to hear your review.

[Sammy Goode]

I wanted to post this here so that anyone interested could respond to Monica:

Hi All!

I am Monica and I am a lesbian working for Lambda Literary Foundation. We just started,My Story, a great LGBT YA online book club. It launches May 1 with our first selection being Martin Wilson's What They Always Tell Us. Swing by and join. Also, we're looking for youth moderators, so if you're interested, you can find out more here. Hope to see some of you in My Story!

Her links:

My Story: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/6...


Youth Moderator Info: http://www.lambdaliterary.org/book-cl...

[Kaje]

Wow they are organized - books planned out into 2013. I don't think all of those are on our bookshelf. We'll have to check them out.

[Sammy Goode]

Kaje wrote: "Wow they are organized - books planned out into 2013. I don't think all of those are on our bookshelf. We'll have to check them out."

Yep--they sure are---although I sincerely hope that anyone on our thread that has dreams of being a youth moderator talks with us first about being one right here--LOL! Selfish I know!

[Joseph]

Does anyone know an adventure book with a gay male protagonist, preferably something fantasy (as in harry potter, sea of trolls, that kind of thing)? I don't care all that much, but I was curious as the only one I've found was hero.

I was watching buffy the other day, and while the show is incredibly cheesy, I was kind of disappointed that the lesbians are very likeable and also very strong but the only gay male character (andrew) is comic relief. I understand Joss Whedon writes about strong females, but I think that was a little lame.

Then I realized I couldn't think of any gay male characters that aren't a joke in anything like that. So I'm just curious.

[Jo]

I have a shifter novel coming out later this year; the 15-year-old male protagonist identifies as bisexual, but I'm pretty sure he's actually gay. (He's also the love interest in one of my adult romance series, and he and I have never quite agreed about his sexuality.) He isn't a joke; he's a very strong character, even before he's changed into a werewolf.

I can't think offhand of anything that's already published that meets what you're looking for, though, except Hero which you've already mentioned. Then again, most of the books I've read lately with gay protagonists have been *about* the protagonist being gay, so there wasn't room for another plot...(I don't have anything against books about guys coming out or coping with being gay or that kind of thing; I just wish there were more books where the main character's sexuality was incidental instead of being the plot.)

[Kaje]

There are a variety of straight fantasy books with gay male protagonists where being gay is not the focus. Magic's Pawn, The Door Into Fire, Luck in the Shadows, Swordspoint all are like that. They lean more to pure fantasy than urban, but all are good.

[Angel]

I am going to be reading in the next week.

[Gavin]

Just finished . It's really too bad that the bullying that Jeff describes in these short stories happens every day. As adults we must really examine how we interact with each other, the children are watching and picking up our bad habits.

It looks like I'll have to start next. It' sitting on my Kobo ready to go.

[Kaje]

Gavin wrote: "Just finished . It's really too bad that the bullying that Jeff describes in these short stories happens every day. As adults we must really examine how we interact wi..."

Jeff will be our featured author next month.

[May]

Just finished reading 'Geography Club' and 'Demon's Lexicon'. There's only a small mention of homosexuality in the latter though but its great for those who love paranormal type books.

[Rogier]

reading http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...

and listening to florence

http://youtu.be/WouoSftCIz8

[Sammy Goode]

I am halfway through by John Goode!

Absolutely FANTASTIC!

[Kaje]

Sammy2006 wrote: "I am halfway through by John Goode!

Absolutely FANTASTIC!"

Yeah, I really enjoyed that one (but darn those cliff-hanger endings - now I want the next one.)

[Isaac]

i just finished A Tale of Two Summers and it was very good

[Kaje]

Isaac wrote: "i just finished A Tale of Two Summers and it was very good"

Yeah, I enjoyed that one too.

[Enny]

I just finished . This little gem of a story will stay with me for a long time.

[Gavin]

May wrote: "Just finished reading 'Geography Club' and 'Demon's Lexicon'. There's only a small mention of homosexuality in the latter though but its great for those who love paranormal type books."

The got me hooked on Brent Hartinger's writing. I'm waiting for his most recent books to come out in EPub format before reading them. I'm glad you liked his writing, I know I do.

[Isaac]

Brandon wrote: "I'm almost finished with , which I'm listening to as an audiobook on my way to and from work. I get motion-sickness, so reading a physical book on the city bus would just not work. ..."

i just read that also. i thought it was good but at the same time a little weird for me