It Looks Like This

July 4, 2016
When Mike’s family relocates from the Midwest to a small Virginia town on the Atlantic coast, little seems to change. He has a couple new friends, but his father still pressures him to focus on sports, and bullies like his classmate Victor still see his quiet demeanor as an easy target. When basketball player Sean transfers into Mike’s French class, a class project–related sleepover turns into a midnight trip to the beach, skinny-dipping, and more. The two swear to keep their relationship a secret, but Victor, bent on causing chaos, releases a video of Mike and Sean and contacts their religious parents. When the truth of the boys’ sexuality becomes public, Mike must decide whether he can give into the pressure of his parents’ expectations. Debut author Mittlefehldt’s direct style of writing cuts to the heart of Mike’s struggle to embrace his true self and to take control of his life, bringing freshness to a familiar plot. The story is propelled in small, quiet moments that steadily build toward much-deserved hope and acceptance. Ages 14–up. Agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House.

August 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-High school freshman Mike deals with homophobia and heartbreak in this throwback coming-out story. Recently transplanted from Wisconsin to Virginia, shy Mike is mostly a loner at school and feels uncomfortable in his "old-fashioned" family. His conservative, religious father wishes Mike were into sports instead of art and always seems mildly disappointed in his son. When Mike meets Sean, unspoken attraction eventually blooms into something more. A school bully films the two kissing and alerts the boys' parents to their relationship, setting into motion horrific yet inevitable events. Mike is shipped off to a conversion therapy program, while Sean meets the same fate as so many gay teens from young adult novels of the past. Unlike in those older offerings, however, a few characters provide acceptance, including Mike's fantastically loving and outspoken younger sister, Toby. Mittlefehldt manages to make the tragedies that befall Mike and Sean not seem like punishments for being gay. Instead, they are shown for what they are: things that happened because of people failing to support and love the boys. The work is told through factual, detached narration and is devoid of quotation marks, and it can be difficult to feel a connection to Mike, who has his guard up for good reasons. It's only after tragedy strikes that characters begin to drop their defenses and show real emotion and the capacity for change. VERDICT A moving but dated-feeling examination of the costs of homophobia; an additional purchase for LGBTQ collections.-Amanda MacGregor, formerly at Great River Regional Library, Saint Cloud, MN

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2016
Ignorance takes a parent from powerful to pitiful in this steady coast through tragic heartbreak and retribution.Fourteen-year-old Mike is starting high school in a new city after he, his parents, and younger sister, Toby, move eastward from Wisconsin to Virginia. He has a tight circle of outsider friends, a burgeoning artistic talent, an offensive chain-smoking nemesis named Victor, and a crush on a handsome, older classmate named Sean. A French class assignment pairs Sean and Mike together, and the frissons of excitement when he is near comfortable, confident Sean commence with a regularity that thrills Mike. It's incredible and feels good and right. Then why is Sean's father casting suspicious glances? Why does Mike's ultraconservative, religious father want him to play sports so badly? And why does Toby face swift punishment in order to defend Mike from a Baptist, Bible-banging grandmother who calls him "soft"? The first-person narrative is easy, casual, and calm, indicative of Mike, whose quiet perceptiveness can be misconstrued by outsiders as passivity (no speech marks make the dialogue feel direct and intimate). Sean's race isn't explicitly identified, but his brown skin offers respite from a snow-white landscape. A haven of understanding for readers who have felt the foolish hand of ignorance trying to prevent them from knowing, being, and loving who they are. (Fiction. 14-18)

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