The Book of David

April 15, 2014
Texas high school senior and quarterback David has a secret no one can discover. Forced by his English teacher to keep a journal in which he writes for 10 minutes, three times a week, David chronicles his innermost secret: his attraction to men. Over the course of a semester, he falls for Jon, the new kid from Chicago, who's a great singer and star of the swim team. He also writes of his relationship with Monica, his cheerleader girlfriend, who has a cool gay uncle who was also a football star. But most painful are his crumbling relationships with his beer-loving, homophobic father and his clingy (though straight) best friend, Tyler, who was up for QB until he was injured. Can David navigate this minefield and hang on to his scholarship offer from USC? Straining the conceit of the journal from the outset, this ill-conceived title "in the tradition of Go Ask Alice" equates being gay with being an alcoholic, a drug addict and an anorexic in its packaging alone. When gay teens need an example of pride, an "Anonymous" byline is a giant leap backward; and with a penultimate paragraph concluding "I feel like I don't have anything to hide," that "Anonymous" is ironic to a fault. Ten years (or more) ago this might have been an important book; but even with its positive close, today it is an embarrassment. (Fiction. 14-17)

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-Growing up in the Midwest where football is king six days a week and church reigns on the seventh, David has it all as a star quarterback. He has a pretty cheerleader girlfriend and a best friend, Tyler, who also plays football. Life is sweet for David, until he meets the new kid at school, Jon, and Tyler gets seriously injured, putting him out for the season. David's stardom rises with a streak of winning games that attract the attention of college scouts and media. Tyler becomes bitter, and David forms a friendship with Jon. Through his senior English class journal, David struggles with feelings for his new friend that he doesn't know how to interpret. Jon evokes something in him like no one else has before, including his girlfriend. The narrative gives readers realistic insight into the often heartbreaking and confusing world of sexual identity and acceptance. David knows that by accepting that he is in love with Jon, he will seriously damage his relationship with friends, family, and the greater community. A list of resources for LGBTQ youth is included. This compelling story is good for young adults who are quietly struggling with their own sexual identity and need to know they are not alone.-Mindy Whipple, West Jordan Library, UT

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 When David, the star quarterback on his high school's football team, meets Jon, the new boy in school, he finds himself oddly attracted to him. As the two become friends, the attraction grows stronger, alarming David, who doesn't know what to make of it. He can't be gay . . . can he? Well, yes, he can and soon the whole world knows it when his former best friend secretly videotapes him and Jon making love and then posts the video on Facebook with near catastrophic results. If this sounds like a familiar story, it is. All the usual gay tropes are invoked: homophobic parents, a fire-breathing minister, a gay uncle, threats of physical violence. And, oh, yes, Jon is an actor, the star of the school's production of The Music Man. Despite all this and a patina of melodrama, there are enough realistic elements to redeem the stereotypes, while Jon and David are both well developed and highly sympathetic characters. A cautiously but realistically optimistic ending adds to the book's appeal.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)