Openly Straight: A Review

Oh dang this book was good.



So we've got Rafe, a gay teen from Colorado who is totally just fine with being gay.  He's not harassed, his parents are (maybe a little too) supportive, and he's even had a kind-of boyfriend.  But one day, Rafe decides he's tired of the labels and enrolls in a boarding school in New England.  His parents let him because his parents are ridiculously awesome.

Side note:  I've noticed in YAL the parents are either Lorelai Gilmore Super-Cool or they are menacing, evil villains.  No in between to speak of. 

But anyway.  Rafe decides that he's tired of being known as "that gay kid."  He's over labels.  So at his new boarding school, he conveniently doesn't mention he's gay.  He doesn't lie...at first.  He just takes advantage of heteronormativity.  And it's great.  He has a totally new group of friends, and his label is gone.

Except not.

He quickly is given a new label:  jock.  But that's okay too because he sort of enjoys being a jock. 

However, it's not so easy to hide such a big part of himself.  Especially around Ben.  Of course, there is a love interest.  But that love interest also does not know that Rafe is gay.  I won't spoil what happens between the two of them, but I will say I loved how it was handled. 

Konigsberg has created some great characters here.  I loved the dialogue and thought it was just a bit more teen boy realistic than, say, John Green's.  And they were still so funny and so honest.

The themes of identity and how we label people and how we're all a bit more obsessed with ourselves than anyone else is were right on.  The sexual exploration was addressed with aplomb.  Most kids I know who enjoy contemporary, realistic YAL would really enjoy this book.

I book talked it and students seemed to be interested, especially with the boarding school part.  I admit to being a sucker for boarding school stories as well.  In talking to my kids I gave this a PG-13 rating due to language and some sexual themes.  On Goodreads, I gave it 5 stars.  Due to the lack of a rating system for my blog I'll make one up. 

So, Openly Straight gets 5/5 Lorelai Gilmores!