Camp Quiltbag

Camp Quiltbag by Nicole Melleby and A.J. Sass

Algonquin Young Readers, 9781643752662

Abigail (she/her/hers) has had a rough year since coming out to her family and the classmates she thought were her friends. She’s excited to attend Camp Quiltbag, a summer camp for LGBTQ+ kiddos…but also, too embarrassed to tell Stacey and the other girls where she’s going. Kai (e/em/eir) has had an even rougher year, but e would rather stay home and practice parkour and hang out with friends e knows e can trust. The two make a pact to help each other, which seems like a great idea…until it sort of backfires.

This is a sweet summer story of crushes, queer identity exploration and friendship. Recommended for middle grader readers.

Bullying, diversity, friendship, gay friends, gender diversity, homophobia, kissing, neurodivergence, no sex, parents, rainbow+, religion, sports, Star Trek sex, straight friends, teachers.

Heartstopper

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman (graphic novel)

Graphix, 9781338617436

Charlie is skinny and gay (he was outed last year, and then bullied as a result).  Nick is a big rugby player with a kind heart.  They become friends…and then more.  There is a lot of confusion as both boys try to sort out what labels they want to claim, and who they will allow to influence them.  Their affection grows stronger throughout the story, even when things go completely sideways.  Best of all: even when they doubt themselves they are both adorable.

Oseman’s art is friendly and accessible, depicting the emotions of characters beautifully.  Be ready to have volume 2 in the series ready to read, because the first book ends on a cliff hanger!  Highly recommended for ages 12 to adult.

bullying, cussing, cussing (mild), friendship, gay friends, gender diversity, graphic novel, high school, homophobia, kissing, mental health, off-page intimacy, parents, rainbow+, sports, Star Trek sex, straight friends

Different for Boys

Different for Boys  by Patrick Ness, illustrations by Tea Bendix

Walker Books, 2023  978-1-5362-2889-2

Anthony (Ant) Stevenson has a lot of questions about sex, but most especially, “at what point is a person not a virgin anymore?”  Is it when they >redacted<?  Or when they’ve >redacted< with >redacted<?  Or >entire sentence redacted<?  

Ant wants to know more…about himself, and about his friends, and about, well, everything.  But it’s hard to learn things when so much is >redacted< – and that’s how this book is written, with big black boxes (which the characters all comment on) obscuring some text the reader will intuit and some that isn’t quite so obvious, even with pictures to help.

Short, quiet, powerful, poetic, and real.  Sex on the page, but it’s >redacted<, of course. Highly recommended for ages 14 to adult.

cussing, friendship, gay friends, high school, homophobia, kissing, masturbation, on-page sex,  parents, rainbow+, redactions, sports, straight friends, teachers

Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy

 

Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy by Faith Erin Hicks (graphic novel)

First Second, 9781250838728

Alix loves playing hockey so much that she is willing to put up with bullying from the team captain. But after one snide comment too many, Alix’s temper snaps and she punches Lindsay in the face in front of the whole team. Now her recommendation to hockey camp is in jeopardy, her mom is mad, and Alix doesn’t know what to do. Then, she sees “gay drama boy” Ezra (he’s really bi, not gay, this is important) being bullied (by Lindsay’s boyfriend, because real life does work that way) but responding in a healthier way.

So, Alix does what any other other socially awkward, probably spectrum-y person would do: she asks Ezra to teach her to chill out. The resulting friends-to-lovers story is sweet in all the possible ways. Heaps of emotional growth for everyone–except Lindsay, of course. Evocative drawings by the author and plenty of Canadian references. Alix and Ezra hold hands, kiss, and spend a night together in the front seat of a broken-down pickup truck–any sexual activity beyond that is tactfully off-page. Recommended for ages 12 to adult, especially readers who love the stage, hockey games, or both.

Bullying, diversity, friendship, gay friends, graphic novel, high school, homophobia, kissing, mental health, neurodivergence, off-page intimacy, rainbow+, sports, Star Trek sex, straight friends.

Check Please!

Check Please!  by Ngozi Ukazu

Eric "Bitty" Bittle just wants to bake pies, listen to pop music, vlog, play hockey, and maybe make some friends on the college hockey team.  A former Southern Junior Champion figure skater, he's kinda small for hockey, but he's wicked fast on the ice and that counts for a lot on a competitive team.  

It will take a long time for Bitty to come out as gay to his teammates...especially to team captain (and secret crush) Jack Zimmermann.  In the meantime, there are college classes, epic keggers, and (of course) hockey.

Don't let the big-eyed manga style of the illustrations fool you:  this is not a kiddie comic.  The characters are college guys (and gals) and they are rude, crude, and socially unacceptable.  They cuss a lot.  In other words, they are hockey players.  They are also good friends, and much sweeter to each other than you might think.  

I wouldn't normally put "hockey player" and "adorable" in the same sentence, but this book practically requires that I do.  Love the supportive environment, love the ongoing references to fabulous food (mmmMMMmm, pie!), love the art, love the story.  

Highly recommended for ages 14 and up.  

Swagger

Swagger  by Carl Deuker

Jonas Dolan doesn't have a lot of post-high-school prospects until a canny basketball coach helps him improve his game--and his grades.  For the first time, Jonas considers going to college.  But then the family moves from California to Seattle, and all the friends, coaches and teachers supporting Jonas are too far away to help much.

In Seattle, Jonas finds a new friend.  Levi is also a talented basketball player, but halfway through the season, Jonas discovers why Levi seems so withdrawn and depressed, especially when Coach Hartwell is nearby.  Although Levi begs his friend to keep quiet and pretend that nothing is wrong, Jonas knows that he will need to do something.

But, what?

Excellent characters facing a truly horrible situation.  I even read   made sense of    didn't die during the basketball sequences.  (Basketball lovers will love the basketball parts.  Me, not so much.)  Overall, a strong story, recommended for readers (especially sports fans) ages 14 to adult.

Hexed

Hexed  by Michelle Krys

​Indigo Blackwood fits all the Los Angeles stereotypes: chirpy cheerleader,  girlfriend of the Football Hero, blah blah blah.  Here's what you don't know about Indie, because she doesn't know it either:  she's a witch.  And that weird book her mom is so obsessed with?  It's a Witch Hunting book that has to be kept safe, or all the witches and warlocks in the world will be endangered from a group of wicked rival sorcerers.

Oh, please.

Buffy, meet Mean Girls.  Cute characters and some fun conversations almost save this from the circular file, but not quite.  The drama leaps around randomly, significant hostages are killed without warning, and then suddenly the main characters are being chased by a dragon through the sewer--which is, apparently, a great time to strip naked and suck face with the hunky warlock guy.

No, really.  

First in a series.  But, why?

Finny and the Boy from Horse Mountain

Finny and the Boy from Horse Mountain  (ARC)  by Andrea Young

14-year-old Finny loves horses, and works at an elite show-jumping stable in exchange for riding lessons.  When she sees an emaciated horse by the side of the road, she arranges to adopt him (without telling her parents or the stable manager), and dreams of their success together.  However, the horse is huge, untrained, and potentially dangerous.  Can they ever find happiness together?

Yes, of course they can.  

All it will take is a handsome boy who happens to be a horse trainer, a kindly horse rescue lady who happens to be a retired world-class show jumping trainer, and a competent veterinarian who happens to enjoy under-billing kids for treatment and services

Of course there are other impediments to happiness, like the Snobby Rich Girl, the Loving but Neglectful Mom, and the Greedy Uncle straight out of Central Casting.

The first third of the book was fraught with plot and terminology errors.  However, the final two-thirds of the story rose up a bit from the mundane, ending with sweet romance and a thrilling horse race.  Horse-loving readers may roll their eyes at some of the goofs, but they will read to the end and cheer at the finish line.

No cussing, no sex.  Some bullying, some violence, some kissing.  Grades 6 and up.

Falling

Falling by Doug Wilhelm

Matt and his brother Neal were both star basketball players. Neal was not offered the scholarship he wanted, and decided to “take the year off.” This means that Neal began a life of selling and using drugs. Matt reacts by dropping out of everything and walking after school to avoid going home, to avoid his basketball friends, to avoid his life. He finds his life online a pseudo-life, meeting Katie, a girl who accidentally goes to the same high school, and they become friends after the usual trauma of finding out who each other is.

The brothers have the usual set of clueless parents, caring friends, and problems finding the right path. The story however, is satisfying in a problem-solving, suspenseful plot. Told alternately by Katie and Matt, so we get their viewpoints as well as their friends. The email link can be problematic enough to talk about.

While there is an obvious romance, there is no sex.