I read Keeping You a Secret by Julie Ann Peters recently. 

And I was appalled.

One of my final papers in undergrad (I was an English major) was the history of homosexuality in teen literature and how it has changed, particularly in the 21st century.  I also credited Sara Ryan (whose website is a link on my homepage, go check out her awesome page and fun pictures) with a shift in the genre in what I consider to be a very positive direction.

Keeping You a Secret, with all due respect to Peters, seemed like a slightly more modern re-hash of Nancy Garden’s breakout lesbian novel, Annie on My Mind.  Now please note that when I say “breakout,” I mean that Garden’s novel was written in 1982.  Peters’ was written in 2005.  Annie on My Mind is outdated now, but the stunning writing and realistic feel make up for that– isn’t that what makes a book a classic anyway?

Peters’ work, much like Marilyn Reynolds’ Love Rules, was so stereotypical it wasn’t even funny.  Not every gay (or even questioning) teenager runs around screaming “I’m gay!  I’m gay!” from the rooftops, wearing rainbows, and demanding that Gay-Straight Alliances be formed at their schools.  Not everyone who comes out to their parents gets kicked out of their house, beaten, screamed at, or tortured.  And believe it or not, there are actually *gasp!* straight people who don’t abandon their friends just because they happen to be gay.  Nothing is so black and white, especially something so complex as sexuality and society.

 

In the meantime, I would suggest reading Sara Ryan’s Empress of the World, an incredibly realistic and touching portrayal of a girl coming into her own at a summer camp for gifted and talented kids.  The sequel, The Rules for Hearts, is another poignant story about how things aren’t always what they seem, no matter how well you think you know someone– a housemate, a family member, or yourself.  Go read these instead.

*RELIGIOUS MUSINGS AHEAD. Nothing offensive, just personal bildungsroman. No likey, no readey. Consider yourself warned**

I have read a lot of things lately. Most of them are trashy magazines that have Jon and Kate articles in them. However, I have read some ACTUAL books. They have made me think.

The first was The Someday List by Stacy Hawkins Adams. It’s about a woman who realizes that while on the outside she has it all, the darker side of her life is far from complete, and she wants to reasess her life and her priorities. It does a good job of essentially explaining a midlife crisis in a non-condescending, non-preachy way, and it comes to a conclusion that is open-ended yet satisfying. I found myself relating to it a lot, which probably says something about my life right now.
I’m also reading a teen novel called Does My Head Look Big In This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah. In it, a Muslim Australian girl named Amal elects to wear her hijab full-time in a personal decision to have the strength to declare her faith publicly. The book chronicles the reactions she receives from her schoolmates, friends, family members, and friends of the family– reactions as varied as the people who give them.

Being Catholic in Buffalo was easy. Practically the whole city is Catholic. Everyone I worked with was Catholic (or, at least 90-some percent of them.) Our Newman Center was HUGE. I had tons of Catholic friends. We did Catholic things. There’s a Catholic church on almost every corner– even WITH all of the closings. I have like 7 different crosses and could where whichever one I wanted any day of the week, and never thought twice. I wore my chastity ring (and claddaugh) ring every day and no one ever said anything. It was one giant non-issue. Then I came here, and everything changed. There is a MUCH smaller Catholic population. I didn’t wear a cross or my ring on my first day or work for fear of offending someone or getting asked too many questions. There are so fewer Catholic churches, so much farther away from where I live than what I am used to. In short, I was shellshocked and terrified. And I still am. But I am slowly learning that wearing my 4-medal cross is okay. So is wearing my ring. I can still find a church to worship at, even if it takes more time and more of a drive. But man, has it ever been a test of everything I have ever expected and every pre-conceived notion I have ever conceived. Now I’m going into a situation that is completely shattering everything I previously held as a self-conceived notion of how my life would play out, in terms of religion, and I’m trying to accept that what I’ve made myself believe is not the only truth.

OKay, that’s enough for today I’d say.