Martin, Douglas A.  Once You Go Back.  2009. 208 p. Seven Stories, $16.95. (978-1-58322-878-4). Gr. 10+.

With the opening sentence, “Pretend you are my sister,” Martin’s narrator invites the reader to participate in an intimate journey of a young boy as he travels through childhood and adolescence within a strained family structure.  Both the boy and sister experience their individual sexual awakenings as they struggle within a broken home environment marked by violence—the estrangement from their father, the abusive stepfather who replaces him, and their mother overwhelmed by life.  Impressionistic and sparse language create a portrait of a young boy growing up gay in a Southern family.  –Victor Schill