Whatling, Michael. A Vigil for Joe Rose: Stories of Being Out in High School. 2009. 201 p. iUniverse, $15.95 (9781440107855-9), Gr 9-12.

Whatling gathered life stories about what it was like to be out in high school from seven male students in Montreal, and retold their stories in this volume, maintaining as much of their own true voices. Also included is a novella about a popular charismatic gay boy who starts a GSA at his high school, told from the point of view of another boy who joins the club just to be close to its founder. Interspersed throughout are pages from a fictional notebook belonging to Joe Rose, a young gay activist who was murdered on a city bus by a gang of teens in 1989, who speaks from beyond the grave to give courage to today’s young gay men. —KT Horning