Home from college for the summer of 1989, but with no car and no girlfriend, 19-year-old Andy Stevenson just hoped for a break from his dull Detroit suburban life when he agreed to accompany his addled, cantankerous grandmother to her brother’s 50th anniversary party in California. But a chance meeting with his handsome cousin Jordan leads to his first same-sex kiss and a six-day comedic whirlwind that ends up bringing Andy out of the closet.
Kage Alan takes the familiar theme of the vacationing teen who suddenly sexually blooms, and tells it from the point of a gay teen in denial. Andy narrates his own story with self-deprecating humor, but the slapstick antics of his family, the girls of California, and Andy’s own impromptu performance at a gay bar lead to several laugh-out-loud moments.
There is tenderness, too. Jordan sweetly engages Andy and patiently helps him shed his Midwestern reserve. When, towards the end of the book, Andy and Jordan make love, Andy’s innocent awe and excitement over what he has been missing leaps out at the reader.
Reviewed by, John Bradford
Head, Automation & Technical Services
Villa Park (IL) Public Library
[…] am a big fan of Kage Alan’s first book A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to My Sexual Orientation, so I was very eager to read his latest effort. When I read the back cover of the book I was […]