Tracey Pennington

Worth Waiting For by Nancy Garden: This was my first experience with Nancy Garden but I know she is like an icon of the lesbian Young Adult genre, and after reading this short story I can understand why. The story is sweet and full of hope, about a small town girl, Mari, who falls in love for the first time; her love is new-in-town Molly and in this girl meets girl plot there is a lot of angst (small town short-end mentality, gratuitous cruelty among the other kids, difficult relationship with parents) but there is also romance, a romance that, as the title says, it’s worth waiting for. Mari and Molly are contemporary girls, with contemporary comparison: unfortunately for them, they are not those of the big city that maybe are detached, but at least are various; in the farm country where they live, the past is Matthew Shepard, the present is the everyday fight to have a GSA group at school, the future is the problematic relationship with your mother, who listens to much to her pastor and the town gossips and not so much to the silent plead of her daughter.

A Line in the Sand by Robin Reardon: Robin Reardon’s story is completely different from Nancy Garden’s one, but very much in line with what I’m used to read from her; here we have a teenager gay boy who had the lucky to come out to his parents and find them supporting. Dustin is nor your typical teenager, he loves beautiful things like fashion and having a pic-nic with silverware and crystals and he dreams to be a designer (for fashion or theatre he has not yet decided). In his young life he has already had a broken heart due to a guy who was not out, and now that he meets Randy, he wants to play it cool. But Dustin is a romantic at heart, and Randy, even if a little older and still in the closet, is a dream comes true. Pity they have only a summer week and then a life on the opposite site of the country. Even if this story has not the classical happily ever after (but suggestion, Randy wants to be a jazz player, Dustin a designer, what place is best than New York City for that?) in the end the story was sweet and full of hope, I can see that, even if Randy and Dustin will not end together, in any case they will have a good life in front of them.

Shattered Diamonds by Jordan Taylor: I’m sure this story will break your heart like it did to mine, but I had a fair warning; beginning scene is about an unnamed teenager who is remembering the death of a schoolmate, Jeremy, and how he feels guilty about it. Little by little we understand that actually Jeremy had his own issues and that maybe unnamed guy is not really guilty if not of not have been a friend. I’m not sure that, with a friend, Jeremy would have overcome all his troubles, but at least he would have been a chance, a chance to not shatter in thousand of pieces like a beautiful, but fragile diamond.

Pervert by Brian Katcher: this is not my first experience with a transgender story but I think this is, among the few I read, one of the best. Again the author decided to not give a name to the boy/girl who are living their hell in high school, feeling they are inadequate, a pervert. The boy/girl are so scared of their own skin they don’t realize they are not alone in this world. Unfortunately I cannot say they have not reason to believe so, the few real life cases of transgender people I read about usually are not story with an easy happily ever after, transgender people seem to have it even harder than gay or lesbian, but I think that with this short story Brian Katcher wants to prove that, with the support of the family, even a miracle is possible.

All net proceeds from the sale of this book will benefit The Trevor Project
MISSION: The Trevor Project is determined to end suicide among LGBTQ youth by providing lifesaving and life-affirming resources including our nationwide, 24/7 crisis intervention lifeline, digital community and advocacy/educational programs that create a safe, supportive and positive environment for everyone.
VISION: A future where the possibilities, opportunities and dreams are the same for all youth, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

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