Bad Romance (or, YA & Rape Culture)

[bookshop]

Once in a while every girl has to do something she knows is bad for her, even though she knows it's stupid and she'll probably regret it later. Last night I started reading the bestselling YA fantasy Hush, Hush, which friends and the internet have repeatedly assured me that I would hate. I had no intention of reading it until I randomly picked it

Comments

[jorajo]

I spent most of this post spluttering in rage.

And a question not having to do with the main source of rage here -- I'm not too familiar with YA; are there ANY decent books that deal with gay main characters or gay characters period that aren't problematic?

[bookshop]

If you're not familiar with YA then definitely start with Alex Sanchez's Rainbow Boys, because it pretty much defined and introduced the queer subgenre of YA fiction. Also, Ash by Malinda Lo is fantastic, as is The Demon's Lexicon - both are great because they have queer main characters, but being queer is not the defining character trait that the book focuses on. I also love and would rec to anyone Sonya Sones' One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies.

[ojuzu]

YA books where 'being queer' is not the focus? I'M IN. ♥

[bookshop]

I also - there are a number of YA books where one of the ~surprise plot points~ is the ~surprise alternate sexuality!!!!~ of a character, and on the one hand that counts, but on the other hand i'm really wary of plots where that happens because it reduces sexuality to a kind of titillation (I think I dislike A Great & Terrible Beauty for this the most). this is somewhat the case in 'One of Those Hideous Books Where' except that it's done really well and didn't feel superimposed the way it does in other books I've read.

[bougival]

ALSO:
Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden (about two girls, published 1982 so seriously predates Rainbow Boys--though this means it is sort of "all about Teh Ghei" and being gay is clearly problematic)
and
Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan (realist fantasy--I can't really explain it any better than that--about a boy who lives in an extremely gay-friendly town; the plot is okay, but the world creation is amazing)
and
The Bermudez Triangle by Maureen Johnson (more girls--the main character is straight, her two friends fall for each other; also, coming out/dealing with being out is still a main focus; this one is a little more mainstream)
and
Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger (narrated by John who befriends Marisol, a lesbian)
and
Rose of No Man's Land by Michelle Tea (less *about* sexuality; characters are less privileged than is typical in YA; it's also a little more "gritty" than most YA--shoplifting, drugs, hitch-hiking, inattentive parents, tattoos, etc.)

Of all of these Boy Meets Boy is the one that most treats homosexuality as normal and

[bookshop]

!!! I can't believe I left out Bermudez Triangle. :D

[lizzy_someone]

Sorry to rain on the party (and I'm not being sarcastic, I love collaborative lists of queer books), but, while there were definitely things I liked about The Bermudez Triangle, my enjoyment of the book was punctuated by what felt like periodic slaps in the face from its stereotypical, misinformed, offensive treatment of sexual orientations other than hetero- and homosexuality. As a non-straight person, I was thrilled by the representation; as a non-monosexual person, I was angry and hurt by the misrepresentation.

[ext_222740]

"Rainbow Boys... pretty much defined and introduced the queer subgenre of YA fiction."

This is not the case at all. Read THE HEART HAS ITS REASONS by Michael Cart and Christine Jenkins and you'll see that queer YA characters go all the way back to the mid-1960s with I'LL GET THERE, IT'D BETTER BE WORTH THE TRIP. Now, if you want to say that RAINBOW BOYS was one of the books that started the trend where gay characters have ultimately happy lives, I might (might) sort of buy that. There was also BOY MEETS BOY released around the same time, and those two books did have a big impact on GLBTQ YA lit, but they were by no means introductory.

[bookshop]

oh, thank you so much for commenting. You're right, I completely disregarded the older generations of stories like Annie on my Mind and The Heart Has its Reasons, because I was thinking of the very positive happy endings of Sanchez, Levithan, etc. Thank you for clarifying this.

[allifer]

On a side note that really doesn't have anything to do with the post (though I am honestly horrified by your descriptions of the novel), I absolutely adore Sonya Sones, and I know her from RL so it makes me really happy when I hear someone likes her books :D

[ojuzu]

Alex Sanchez (author of Rainbow Boys, among others) writes almost exclusively about teenagers coming to terms with their own sexuality, and the sexuality of those around them. He even wrote a book (The God Box) that deals with discrimination against gay Christians.

It's odd, but I can't think of any YA (or any books period, really) off the top of my head that have gay characters but are not, in some way, all about Teh Ghei. Nothing where Character Y might ask "Hey, where's Character X?" and the answer would be "Eh, her girlfriend's parents wanted to discuss the wedding plans."

[_fx]

Hmm... Holly Black's Fairy books do an okay job, as does Perry Moore's Hero (well, kinda okay. I've got Issues with Hero's portrayal of women). There's also Tamora Pierce's later Circle books and Sarah Rees Brennan's Demon books.

[jain]

Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence is an excellent collection of short stories for young adults.

Novels:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Geography Club by Brent Hartinger
Luna by Julie Anne Peters (trans character)
The God Box by Alex Sanchez
Peter by Kate Walker
Leave Myself Behind by Bart Yates

[carlamlee]

down to the bone by Mayra Lazara Dole is excellent.

[wemblee]

This isn't exactly YA, but it starts out with the characters as teenagers, and the writing style feels very YA (it's written in epistolary format): Almost Like Being In Love by Steve Kluger. Young nerdy dude falls in love with a jock, they grow up, grow apart, and realize that they're still the loves of each other's lives. The jock has since become an activist and a lawyer, and he's got a boyfriend, and the boyfriend isn't demonized or anything. Happy endings all around. Really sweet. I'd recommend it to adult readers of YA and adult readers that like books with queer themes/characters, but a teen could, I think, easily read it and enjoy it. (I'm just happy I have a chance to pimp a Kluger book, I adore this guy's stuff.)

[soapygirl]

Hero by Perry Moore was pretty good. I wasn't in love with it but it had non problematic gay characters.