Nate lives in a small town outside of Pittsburgh, PA where he leads a very gray existence, not the technicolor one of his dreams. His parents have their own troubles and a rocky marriage, while his older brother is by all appearances an athletic untouchable golden boy. Like many other boys in small towns across the country, Nate does not fit in. He’s got an awkward, short yet heavy build, a deep love of show tunes and the vocabulary and sense of humor of an adult. He does not conform to his peers vision of what a boy should be and therefore he is relentlessly bullied. Specifically, he is bullied for being gay. Just 13, Nate is not ready to deal with the question of his sexuality, but that does not stop others from making assumptions. Nate’s brother calls the show “Gays and Dolls” instead of “Guys and Dolls”, calls him a homo. People call him “Natey the Lady”. At a religious camp, Nate is beaten up and told “God hates fags”. Cyberbullying makes an appearance as Nate was taped singing in the school bathroom and it was put on the internet called “Faggot of the Opera”. Even his best friend, Libby jokes about dressing as “a gay dude” for Halloween and then launches into a speech about how there’s nothing wrong with being gay.
But this book isn’t really about Nate’s suffering. It’s about a boy who sneaks away to New York City to audition for a Broadway show. And in the big city he finds that many things are not nearly as wonderful as they seem, but many things are so, so, very much better than he ever could have hoped.
Upon reading this book, it struck me as desperately necessary. If we talk about how books must be mirrors, offering readers the opportunity to see their own experiences in literature, this is one that many boys would love to read. So many more LGBT books cover romance and love; the questioning time period, the one of accepting yourself is far less readily available. It’s even harder when you consider that despite my lead paragraph, Nate’s sexuality isn’t really the main plot of the book.
I do worry about this finding the proper audience however. The ALA lists it in the Middle Grade (3-5 category) and I pretty strenuously object to that. It’s about an 8th grader with several mature themes. In particular, the frequent use of hate language in relation to Nate’s sexuality is attention getting. It is frequent, but Nate himself accepts his treatment and bullying as part of his life. As such, the author does not highlight just how wrong it is to use these words. It is important that the book be read by readers who are mature enough to understand the weight and significance they carry.
I have further concerns that the audience for this may be narrow. This is more likely to be a book for students who are going through this themselves, rather than a book which will draw in many readers and show them Nate’s experiences. The theatre world and auditioning process is a major part of this book and it will be outside the interest and understanding of many readers.
Age Recommendation: Mature Grade 6 readers and up. I wouldn’t hesitate to give it to a sixth grader who had a personal connection to the material, but might hold off until a little older for others, particularly as a teacher or librarian. As a parent, I would say to just be prepared to discuss Nate’s experiences with your children as needed.
Native Americans: There are just a few places in this where Native American stereotypes are mentioned. I’m linking you to Debbie Reese’s blog so that you can see what parts of the book are problematic. Click here.
Sex, Nudity, Dating –A kid at Nate’s school has a girlfriend in high school even though he is only in 8th grade. A girl seems to be on the verge of kissing Nate. Nate’s brother is called “girl-addicted”. Nate calls his own sexuality off-topic and unrelated and undecided. Nate’s father had an affair with an exotic dancer. Boys discuss a “mondo rack” and Nate speculates they might be “discussing a Latina girl gain her first set of boobs”. This isn’t really a “sexual” thing, but Aunt Heidi makes a weird reference to her “dusty womb”. There is a sign for pole dancing class. A girl is blackmailing a guy into taking off his shirt and flexing for her. The kids played shirts vs. skins at school. There’s a Museum of Sex in New York. Nate sees two boys kiss. Nate’s Aunt Heidi talks about her on-again off-again relationship with her boyfriend and how she saw him with another woman once. She mentions getting married and having babies. Aunt Heidi’s roommate comes out of his room with no shirt on. Aunt Heidi’s roommate jokes that he used to wear lipstick in college. A woman is dressed in a catsuit with “leather boobs”. Nate asks a man why he doesn’t date Aunt Heidi and learns that the man dates other men. Nate notices that a man looks really good in jeans. A boy’s mother stands up an “thrusts her breasts” into a man’s face – she’s fully clothed. A boy has a male porno magazine in his locker. A lady’s skirt flips up and it is clear she is not a lady.
Profanity –”frickin”, “Oh God”, “God”, “Oh my God” and many similar iterations, “homo”, “faggot”, “Fagster”, “suck”, “s__t” appears, with the space as marked, “fag”, “heck’, “S-word” in place of the same blanked out s-word written previously, “faggot”, “SuperFag”, “jerk”, “a-hole”,
Death, Violence and Gore – People hunt in the woods and Nate’s mother says it will be his fault alone if he’s killed. There’s a mention of handguns in New York. A random kid’s teacher was killed in a hot air balloon in France. A family has BB guns. Nate’s dad once lost a family member in a drunk driving accident. We learn that the architect of the Flatiron Building hung himself (as far as I can tell, this is not true). Nate was elbowed in the head and had a split lip bad enough that he needed to go to the hospital. Nate jokes that his father will cut his head off with an axe. Nate’s grandparents died when his mom was younger.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Nate’s brother has a fake id. There’s a joke about a kid needing a cigarette before an audition. During high school Nate’s Aunt Heidi spilled wine on a borrowed dress. Aunt Heidi has a cocktail named after her. Nate’s brother has beer hidden in his room. There are a lot of liquor stores in New York. People at a bar drink cocktails and beer. Nate tried a sip of beer once. Aunt Heidi smokes. Nate’s mother is drunk at one point and plans on driving him somewhere. Aunt Heidi’s boyfriend drinks too much.
Frightening or Intense Things – Libby’s mom has cancer. Libby gets called “a fat girl name” in the hall. Nate’s parents have a rough marriage; he constantly expects a divorce.
