Boys Like Us


Book Description

In stunning essays written especially for this collection, twenty-nine noted gay writers recount their true "coming out" stories, intensely personal histories of that primal process by which men come to terms with their desire for other men. Here are accounts of revealing one's sexual identity to parents, siblings, friends, co-workers and, in one notable instance, to a stockbroker. Men tell of their first sexual encounters from their preteens to their thirties, with childhood friends who rejected or tenderly embraced them, with professors, with neighbors, with a Broadway star. These are poignant, sometimes unexpectedly funny tales of romance and heartbreak, repression and liberation, rape and first love defining moments that shaped their authors' lives. Arranged chronologically from Manhattan in the Forties to San Francisco in the Nineties, these essays ultimately form a documentary of changing social and sexual mores in the United States--a literary, biographical, sociological and historical tour de force.




Boys Like You


Book Description

"A story of family, first love and forgiveness. I couldn't stop reading. I loved it!"—Miranda Kenneally, author of Catching Jordan Two shattered hearts are about to collide in this achingly poignant young adult novel. Monroe and Nathan are two lost souls each struggling with grief and guilt from a mistake that changed their lives – looking for acceptance, so they can find forgiveness. For Monroe Blackwell, one small mistake has torn her family apart—leaving her empty and broken. There's a hole in her heart that nothing can fill. That no one can fill. And a summer in Louisiana with her grandma isn't going to change that... Nathan Everets knows heartache firsthand when a car accident leaves his best friend in a coma. And it's all his fault. He should be the one lying in the hospital. The one who will never play guitar again. He doesn't deserve forgiveness, and a court-appointed job at the Blackwell B&B isn't going to change that... There's No Going Back Captivating and hopeful, this achingly poignant novel brings together two lost souls struggling with grief and guilt—looking for acceptance, so they can find forgiveness.




Boys Like Her


Book Description

Boys like her is an adrenaline-rush road movie of young queer life and gender transformation. First stop, the Canada-U.S. border, four young queers in a borrowed car pulled over, notebooks, make-up, clothes and violin flung out on the concrete. The car is checked for drugs, contraband, fruit - and declared clean. The four in a borrowed car are smuggling dangerous goods. But what they're smuggling can't be sniffed out, pawed through, or seized. They're smuggling stories, poetry, scripts; words they've sold in performance on-stage. Felons, all of them, they've memorized their act and now are speeding away from the border, smiling, self-satisfied and definitely up to no good. Join Anna, Ivan, Zoe and Lyndell as they evade customs, tell their stories, forget underwear, break hearts and come clean. Surrender yourself to the brash fun of Zoe's Amsterdam "sideshow", to the darling day when Ivan first sheds her bikini top, to the fearless audacity of Anna's superhero adventure, and the soulfol guiding spirit of Lyndell's violin, Experience the world and truth of Taste This, where stories have no hard and fast boundaries, where gender and genre are malleable and where transgression is often the way to the most delightful transformations.




All Boys Aren't Blue


Book Description

In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson's All Boys Aren't Blue explores their childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. A New York Times Bestseller! Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News, Today Show, and MSNBC feature stories From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson's emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults. (Johnson used he/him pronouns at the time of publication.) Velshi Banned Book Club Indie Bestseller Teen Vogue Recommended Read Buzzfeed Recommended Read People Magazine Best Book of the Summer A New York Library Best Book of 2020 A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2020 ... and more!




Boys of Alabama: A Novel


Book Description

A “soul-stirring debut,” Boys of Alabama tells the “bewitching” (Michelle Hart, O, The Oprah Magazine) tale of sixteen-year-old Max’s first year in America. “Daring, unusual . . . and startlingly fresh” (Don Noble, Alabama Public Radio), Boys of Alabama announced Genevieve Hudson’s place in the canon of the southern gothic alongside Donna Tartt and Harper Lee. Newly arrived in Alabama, Max falls in love, questions his faith, and navigates a strange power. Although his German parents don’t know what to make of a South pining for the past, shy Max thrives after being taken in by the football team. But when he meets fishnet-wearing Pan in physics class, they embark on a quixotic, consuming relationship. Writing in “prose that is always imaginative and sensual” (Sarah Neilson, Believer), Hudson offers a complex portrait of masculinity, religion, immigration, and the adolescent pressures that require total conformity.




Raising Boys to Be Good Men


Book Description

"If you are the parent of a boy . . . this is the book you need . . . insightful, enlightened, practical." —Peggy Orenstein, New York Times bestselling author of Boys & Sex From the dad who created the viral tweet supporting his son wearing nail polish, this essential parenting guide shares 36 parenting tips for battling gender norms, bringing down "man up" culture, and helping sons realize their potential. Our boys are in a crisis. Toxic masculinity and tough guy-ism are on display daily from our leaders, and we see anger, dysfunction, violence, and depression in young men who are suffocated by harmful social codes. Our young sons are told to stop throwing like a girl. They hear phrases like “man up” when they cry. They are told “boys will be boys” when they behave badly. The “Girl Power” movement has encouraged women to be whoever and do whatever they want, but that sentiment is not often extended to boys. Just watch the bullying when boys try ballet, paint their fingernails, or play with a doll. But we can treat this problem—and the power lies in the hands of parents. It's not only possible to raise boys who aren't emotionally stifled and shoved into stereotypical gender boxes; it's vital if we want a generation of men who can express their emotions, respect women, and help nurse society back to a halfway healthy place. We can reframe manhood. From Aaron Gouveia, who gained viral fame after tweeting his support for his son’s painted fingernails (and who knows toxic masculinity very well), learn practical and actionable tips such as: Don’t accept different standards for moms and dads Teach boys that “girl” is not an insult and retire phrases like “boys will be boys” Show boys that expressing their emotions and being physical is a good thing Let boys pursue nontraditional interests and hobbies Talk to boys about consent and privilege Model healthy and respectful relationships for boys to emulate Penned with equal parts humor, biting snark, and lived advice, Raising Boys to Be Good Men is the essential parenting guide for raising sons to realize their potential outside the box. ​




Michigan vs. the Boys


Book Description

Hockey meets the #MeToo movement in this powerful debut novel. Michigan Manning lives for hockey, and this is her year to shine. That is, until she gets some crushing news: budget cuts will keep the girls’ hockey team off the ice this year. If she wants colleges to notice her, Michigan has to find a way to play. Luckily, there’s still one team left in town … The boys’ team isn't exactly welcoming, but Michigan’s prepared to prove herself. She plays some of the best hockey of her life, in fact, all while putting up with changing in the broom closet, constant trash talk and “harmless” pranks that always seem to target her. But once hazing crosses the line into assault, Michigan must weigh the consequences of speaking up — even if it means putting her future on the line.




Boys Like You


Book Description

Waking up in hospital with no recollection of why I'm there. I'm met with faces I don't recognise, and a black hole where my memory should be. After recovering and spending time with these five amazing guys, I realise I have everything I need, even without my memories. Rocky is full of energy but can be a handful. Mercer thinks he is tough, but I can see through his act. Rory is generous but has an attitude. Maximus doesn't talk but he doesn't need to. Levi may be cautious, but he is clearly the protector of the group. JD is what my boys decided to call me after they found me washed up, naked on a beach in the middle of winter. Who am I? Where did I come from? I should want the answers to those questions, except being with them feels like home. Finding out who I am is low on my priority list when I feel like I can breathe for the first time in my life, a life I can no longer remember.




We Boys Together


Book Description

"From Andy Hardy and the Dead End Kids to Spin and Marty and Bomba the Jungle boy, romantic relationships between teenage boys were a staple in American popular culture from 1900 through World War II. Here, Jeffery Dennis reveals how masculine, red-blooded, all-American boys were supposed to ignore girls during high school, becoming interested only after graduation, and documents the later shift to the presumption that teenage boys are heterosexually active and aware."--BOOK JACKET.




Kickflip Boys


Book Description

“Thompson captures the ache, fizz, yearning and frustration of being the father of adolescent boys.” —Michael Chabon “What a riveting, touching, and painful read!” —Maria Semple “Fun, moving, raw, and relatable.” —Tony Hawk What makes a good father, and what makes one a failure? Does less-is-more parenting inspire independence and strength, or does it encourage defiance and trouble? Kickflip Boys is the story of a father’s struggle to understand his willful skateboarder sons, challengers of authority and convention, to accept his role as a vulnerable “skate dad,” and to confront his fears that the boys are destined for an unconventional and potentially fraught future. With searing honesty, Neal Thompson traces his sons’ progression through all the stages of skateboarding: splurging on skate shoes and boards, having run-ins with security guards, skipping classes and defying teachers, painting graffiti, drinking and smoking, and more. As the story veers from funny to treacherous and back, from skateparks to the streets, Thompson must confront his complicity and fallibility. He also reflects on his upbringing in rural New Jersey, and his own adventures with skateboards, drugs, danger, and defiance. A story of thrill-seeking teens, of hope and love, freedom and failure, Kickflip Boys reveals a sport and a community that have become a refuge for adolescent boys who don’t fit in. Ultimately, it’s the survival story of a loving modern American family, of acceptance, forgiveness, and letting go.