One Man Guy

March 3, 2014
Being forced to attend summer school becomes a blessing in disguise for 14-year-old Alek Khederian when it sparks a romance with an older boy named Ethan, who runs with a crowd of skateboarders and perceived burnouts. Alek’s Armenian heritage is the ever-present frame for the boys’ budding relationship in suburban New Jersey. Early on, they bond over the Armenian version of string cheese (just one of many culinary specialties described in detail); the strength of Alek’s character, due in no small part to his strict upbringing, is part of what attracts Ethan to him; and, toward the end of the novel, debut author Barakiva draws sharp parallels between homophobia and the ongoing enmity between Armenians and Turks due to the Armenian genocide. While the story tends to favor heightened, romantic comedy moments and dialogue over realism (Ethan is a particularly idealized hybrid of bad-boy/nonthreatening sweetie-pie), Barakiva avoids stereotypes and clichés to create a sweet portrait of nascent adolescent love between two boys growing up and finding themselves (with some help from nearby New York City). Ages 12–up. Agent: Josh Adams, Adams Literary.

March 1, 2014
Alek thought summer school would be the biggest bump in his summer...if only he'd known. Fourteen-year-old Aleksander Khederian is devastated when his parents break their promise to send him to tennis camp over the summer, but even worse is that they are forcing him to go to summer school just so that he can stay on the honors track. This, like traveling across town to a specific church or avoiding all things Turkish, is just part of being an Armenian-descended American. When his best friend, Becky, surprises Alek with an unwanted, passionate kiss and he reacts badly, he knows the summer is going to be lonely and awful. Then Ethan, a cool, skateboarding junior also in summer school, "kidnaps" Alek for a day trip by train to a Rufus Wainwright concert in New York City. Ethan, who's out to his skater friends, opens up a whole new world for Alek, and their friendship becomes a relationship. How will his traditionally minded family handle this? Alek is pretty sure it will be awful. Barakiva's debut is well-wrought and realistic within its Northeast context, and it's entertaining without sliding into easy gags or melodrama. Despite a too-neat-and-happy ending, it deftly draws strong parallels between homosexuality and ethnicity that will resonate with audiences. East Coast teens will see themselves; Midwesterners will feel a little envy. (Fiction. 12-16)

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May 1, 2014

Gr 6-10-Fourteen-year-old Alek Khederian is horrified when his parents announce that he will be going to summer school in order to get him on the Honors track. This change of plans means no relaxation, no time with friends, no tennis camp, and no family vacation. He starts summer school grudgingly, only to have his spirits lifted when he meets Ethan, who is different from anyone Alek has ever known, and Alek is shocked when Ethan wants to be friends. Before long, their friendship deepens into a romance Alek definitely didn't see coming. The events in this coming-of-age novel move a little too quickly to be fully realized, and some of the secondary characters are two-dimensional. However, Alek's character is well developed. He's a likable teen who remains true to himself throughout; he stands up for what he believes in, even if it means upsetting the people he cares about. The story will appeal to both young people who are just discovering their own sexuality and readers who enjoy a good budding romance.-Sarah Allen, Judson High School, Converse, TX

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2014
Grades 7-10 When it appears that Alek is going to fall off the Honor Track at school, the 14-year-old's strict Armenian parents, for whom education is of paramount importance, insist he go to summer school. Little do theyor heknow that it will be a life-changing experience. For it is there that he meets Ethan, who epitomizes cool. To Alek's amazement, the two become friends and then fall in love. But when Alek's parents predictably find the two making out, they ground him and forbid him to see Ethan again. Surely, this can't end well. Or can it? Barakiva's first novel is at once a sweet-spirited love story and a sometimes didactic primer on Armenian life and culture in America. The reader learns, for example, that if you're Armenian, you only go to an Armenian Orthodox Church, you must love chess and classical music, and the kitchen and ethnic cuisine are the pride of every Armenian household. More serious is the attention given to the early-twentieth-century Armenian Holocaust and the visceral memories it stirs. The Armenian content adds flavor and texture to what would otherwise be a fairly typical gay love story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)