Am I Blue? Coming Out of the Silence, Short Stories by Multiple Authors

Am I Blue? Coming Out of the Silence, Multiple Authors, Harper Collins Children's Books, 1994

Am I Blue? Coming Out of the Silence is a collection of short stories about growing up gay or lesbian or with gay or lesbian parents or friends.  The characters in the stories are often young people struggling to understand their own identities through their sexuality.  The stories are short (less that fifteen pages each), very well-written, and easy for young readers to understand.

The stories in the book deal with the topic of homosexuality, but they do so in many different ways.  Some of the stories deal with people who know they are gay and are dealing with family members or friends who don't understand or support them.  Other stories deal with adolescents who are still trying to figure out who they are and what their sexuality might be. 

I would definitely use this book in a middle school classroom.  The stories do a great job of talking about homosexuality from the perspective of young people who are still struggling to find their identity.  The stories and the characters are very relatable to all young people, regardless of sexuality.  I would probably read a few of the stories together as a class along with other short stories or poems about social issues. I would then have the book on hand for individual reading by anyone who was interested.  This book was definitely one of the best collections of short stories I have ever read and it dealt with issues that are extremely relevant in society today.

"Boy Meets Boy" by David Levithan

Boy Meets Boy, David Levithan, Random House, 2003.

Boy Meets Boy is narrated by Paul, a sophomore in high school who falls in love with Noah, the new kid in town.  The story is centered around Paul's relationships with his friends and more-than-friends, as he tries to navigate the difficulties of high school relationships.  The book takes place in a small town in New Jersey, where the gay community is loud and proud.  Almost all of the main characters are LGBT high schoolers.  As Paul deals with a gay best friend whose parents are ultra-religious, another best friend who is slipping away from him, and an ex-boyfriend struggling with his attractions, Paul must figure out how to prove his love for Noah while discovering things about friendships, new and old.

The book overall seemed to me to be a typical romantic teen comedy.  It deals with themes of love, friendship, and relationships which every adolescent is familiar with.  In this way, it is an attractive book for middle school because these themes are relevant in adolescents' lives.  Of course, the pervading issue is the LGBT setting, which might be tricky to teach to middle schoolers.  There is no inappropriate language or content in the book, but I would recommend it only for seventh or eighth graders and up.

The interesting thing about the book is the fact that almost all of the characters are confident in their sexuality, especially the narrator, Paul, who came out in third grade.  The book's setting might be unfamiliar to many readers (including me) who might not have experienced life in a community where LGBT young people are so confident and included.  This could be an interesting point of discussion.  I would suggest this book more for small reading groups for middle schoolers who can maturely read LGBT literature.