Uhlig, Richard. Boy Minus Girl. 2008 (December). 246p. Knopf, $15.99. (978-0-375-83968-9). Gr. 8-10.

Fourteen-year-old Lester’s sole goal in life is to be successful with girls, but even the tips he reads in The Seductive Man can’t help him with his friend Charity, who reveals that she is a lesbian, and Regina, who uses him to get her boyfriend back. The mix of characters—seemingly strait-laced parents, swinger Uncle Ray, Ray’s pregnant stripper girlfriend, and the town bully—adds to the rich setting of a conservative South during the 1980s. With Lester, the reader learns that nothing is as it seems, as everyone grapples, sometimes unsuccessfully, with their own issues. Charity’s acceptance of her lesbianism is refreshing, and the protagonist gives this book a wide readership.   -Nel Ward