Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez
Simon & Schuster, New York, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-84100-0

Plot Summary:
Rainbow Boys is told from the perspectives of three different gay teens in various stages of the coming out process. Nelson is out of the closet to everyone and gets harassed non-stop at school, but he has an incredibly supportive mother who would do anything for him. Kyle is Nelson's best friend. Kyle is out to his friends, and over the course of the novel comes out to his parents. Jason is a jock and has a steady girlfriend, Debra. No one even suspects he is gay.

One day Jason works up the courage to go to a Rainbow Youths meeting, and runs into Kyle and Nelson. He is mortified that anyone at his school would know about him. It turns out Kyle has had a crush on Jason for a long time. Later on, Jason asks Kyle to help him with his math homework and finds it very difficult to deny his true feelings. Jason ends up coming out to his girlfriend, and eventually his parents, prompting his alcoholic, homophobic father to leave the family.

Even though Nelson has been in love with Kyle, he is glad to see him happy with the man of his dreams. He starts seeing and HIV positive guy named Jeremy, and he and his mother succeed in creating a gay-straight alliance club at school. In the final, powerful scene, Jason the jock walks past his teammates and hecklers into the first meeting of the club.

Critical Evaluation:
This is a very powerful book, yet it doesn't beat the reader over the head with any lessons. All of the characters feel very real and imperfect, just trying to navigate a confusing time. It's easy to understand all of their motivations. We cheer when Nelson stands up for himself, but we also understand how hard it is for Jason to come out. The romance between Kyle and Jason could just as easily be a romance between any members of two completely different cliques like so many high school stories are about. I really want to know what happens to them after the story ends. I already plan on purchasing a couple of copies of this book for some friends of mine who I know will love it.

Reader’s Annotation:
Nelson loves Kyle, but Kyle loves Jason. And Jason--is he or isn't he? Senior year is confusing enough without having to worry about coming out of the closet.

Information about the Author:
Alex Sanchez has worked as a youth and family counselor in the Unites States and overseas. On his website, he states that the idea for Rainbow Boys came to him when he was struggling with coming out himself. This was his first novel, and the first in a trilogy.

Genre: realistic fiction

Curriculum Ties: none

Booktalking Ideas:
I would introduce the three different boys and how "out" they are. Then I would talk about their struggles and the difficult relationship between Kyle and Jason.

Reading Level/Interest Age:
Even though the theme is mature, I believe this book would be an enormous help to a young person struggling with his or her own sexual identity. I would recommend it for ages 15 and up.

Challenge Issues:
Obviously this book would be challenged for its depiction of homosexuality and some brief profanity. Characters do have sex, though it is not graphic at all. I would explain the library's selection policy and give the challenger a complaint form to fill out.

Why I chose this book:
I chose this book after reading an article on controversial young adult literature by Rachel Cohn. She uses this book as one of her examples, and it sounded interesting.