LGBTQ issues in new YA Novels

Sexual identity issues have always been a problem for teens, but today's society is more tolerant and students are more comfortable discussing them. Many schools have curriculums that include counseling students about being open to diversity in people’s sexual preferences.  Reflective of this tolerance is the growing body of young adult literature that focuses on this issue or includes it in a subplot. LGBTQ characters are routinely included in new young adult novels, regardless the genre.  A wildly popular new realistic novel, Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston focuses on the bi-sexual son of the U.S. President, who falls in love with a British prince, who is a closeted gay.  Exile from Eden, Andrew Smith's sequel to the sci/fi award winner Grasshopper Jungle, finds Austin and Robby still living in the underground bunker with their son Arek and his best friend Mel. Kiersten White's new fantasy novel, The Guinevere Deception, reimagines the Arthurian legend where Lancelot is a gay female. 

In Red, White and Royal Blue Alex Claremont-Diaz, the half-Mexican son of the first female president of the United States, meets Prince Henry, backup heir to the English throne and it's hate at first sight.  After their verbal sparring at an international wedding leads to a scuffle and them falling into the wedding cake, they are required to pose as best friends on a publicity tour.  Not surprisingly, their hate turns to attraction and after their first kiss, they contrive to find ways to be together.  Of course, their bromance is eventually discovered and leaked to the press during Alex's mom's reelection campaign.  Strategizing how to handle their relationship evolves from denial to breakup to acknowledgement in this clever take on the rom/com genre.  The sexual encounters are fairly explicit, so I would recommend this for high school readers.

Exile from Eden: or, After the Hole, the post-apocalyptic sequel to Grasshopper Jungle, finds Arek, the son of Austin and Robby, crushing on his best friend Mel and living in the underground bunker with her, his two dads, mother and grandmother.  Ten-foot-tall praying mantises have wiped out most of the human population, but they are dying off. Austin and Robby set off in a small plane to find other survivors and when they don't come back, Arek and Mel go on their own RV road trip to find them.  Meanwhile in alternating chapters readers learn about earlier years in the hole, as well as the tale of a 12-year-old wild boy "Breakfast" and his chimpanzee friend, Olive.  Philosophical passages and reflection on the paintings of Max Beckmann mix with Arek's longing for Mel and his fear of his hyper-religious grandmother's threat to circumcise him. As with the first book, sexual longing is explored in detail, making this also a book for more mature readers. 

The Guinevere Deception, the first book in the Camelot Rising trilogy, alters many details in the Arthurian legend.  Lancelot is a woman, Mordred is Arthur's right hand man and Guinevere is an impostor sent by Merlin to protect Arthur.  Magic has been banned in Camelot, so Guinevere must wield her magical powers in secret, as she strives to discover threats to Arthur's well-being. Meanwhile, Arthur is out fighting battles, trying to save his kingdom. This fresh take on the Arthurian legend has a decidedly feminist twist and will appeal to fans of the original, if only to see how this very popular author changes it up. 

Colorado Teen Lit Conference recommendations: The Alex Crow, Masterminds, and Tesla's Attic

The Colorado Teen Literature Conference in April featured Andrew Smith, author of Printz Honor Book Grasshopper Jungle, as the keynote speaker.  Predictably his talk was funny and irreverent, yet revealing, in his honesty about his road to becoming a published author.  Smith, who is being called "the spiritual heir to Kurt Vonnegut," also spoke about his latest book, The Alex Crow. As with his first book, his latest is provocative and profane. The tale blends multiple story lines which include an adopted refugee, a schizophrenic bomber and 19th century explorers on a failed expedition. Other books highlighted at the conference that I would like to recommend include Gordon Korman's Masterminds, the first book in a new series about clones, and Eric Elfman and Neal Shusterman's Tesla's Attic, the first in a series about a boy who finds Nikola Tesla's last magical inventions in the attic of his new house.

The Alex Crow focuses on Ariel, a refugee from an unnamed country, who is adopted by an American family. Ariel and his adoptive brother Max are sent to the Merrie-Seymour camp for boys with technology addictions, solely because their dad works for the company and it's free. His adoptive dad works for the Alex Division which experiments with resurrecting extinct animals and creating biodrones (beings with surveillance chips in their heads).  The boys at the camp seem to be somehow involved with his research. Flashbacks chronicle Ariel's journey which includes periods of tagging along with soldiers in his war torn nation, as well as time spent among abusive teens in a refugee camp. Meanwhile, Lenny, a weird guy who hear voices which prompt him to do violent things, is transporting a truck load of bombs to the camp. Finally, chapters chronicling the story of the first scientists in the Alex division, who are exploring the Arctic in the 19th century and experimenting with "de-extinction," are interwoven.  When the story lines finally come together, they evoke an intriguing statement about society, extinction, and life itself.  This book is only recommended for mature high school readers.

Masterminds takes place in idyllic Serenity, New Mexico, population-185, where all the adults are employed, the children are well-behaved, and the community members are congenial.  However, when 13-year-old Eli and his buddy Randy try to leave town on a lark, Eli is paralyzed with pain and nausea. After Eli recuperates, he finds Randy is being sent away, the factory which employs most of the townsfolk is a sham, and their internet is sanitized, excluding anything unpleasant.Telling the tale from alternating points of view, Eli and his friends Tori, Hector, and Malik begin to investigate the sinister happenings in Serenity, unraveling a mystery that shows the whole town is a gigantic lie. The truth about the kids' parentage threatens their very lives.  Their attempted escape is action packed and lays the groundwork for the sequel.  Middle level readers will find this a real page turner.

Tesla's Attic, the first book in the Accerlerati Trilogy, introduces Nick who has moved with his younger brother and father to a Victorian house they inherited after their home burns down, killing his mother.  Wanting to move into the attic, Nick has a garage sale to get rid of all the junk stored up there.  But this is not ordinary junk. The reel-to reel player records what is said but plays back what the speaker is thinking.  The See 'n Say predicts the future and the wet-cell electrodes can reanimate dead insects.  Nick and his new friends Caitlin and Vincent investigate and discover the  objects are Nikola Tesla's last inventions that have magical properties. When mysterious men show up looking for the objects, the kids decide they have to get the objects back. The men are from a secret society of physicists, the Accerlerati, who want to stop the kids and use the objects for their own devious plans. Plausible scientific explanations for the fantastic happenings add to the fun of this gadget filled mystery. Middle level readers will look forward to the next installment of this fast paced series.