Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend

High school senior and Harvest Queen Belle Philbrick's world is turned upside down when her boyfriend of over two years dumps her - after coming out of the closet. Now Belle has a huge range of emotions to deal with as she tries to come to terms with the news. Even worse is watching the rest of her small town community come to terms with this news - and some people certainly react badly. Belle is left to try to answer all of the questions that Dylan has left her with. Did she ever really understand Dylan? How has her own identity changed as a result? And what about Tom, a friend from Belle's childhood who suddenly seems to be looking at her in a new light?

Despite a relatively snarky title, this book is certainly deep and thought-provoking. Author Carrie Jones does a great job of getting inside Belle's head and showing her complicated and sometimes understandably irrational emotions. This books is also a great way of looking at the coming-out story as we really see how Dylan's preferences affect his friends and his community.

Overall grade: A-

The sequel to this book, Love (And Other Uses for Duct Tape), brings us back to Belle, Tom, and their tiny Maine hometown. The good news is that this book presents an interesting look at all forms of love (including sex) and their sometimes unplanned consequences, including teen pregnancy. The themes are truly good and using Belle again as a reactionary character to difficult circumstances is interesting and effective for exploring these themes. Unfortunately, the writing just isn't as good. It almost seems like Jones is trying a little too hard to recapture the tone she nailed so perfectly in Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend, and in the process ends up repeating herself over and over again in terrible teenage angst. The timing in this story is also off, and it seems like things move along far to quickly for the four days or so in which the book is set. Still worth checking out, but be warned about the decline in quality.

Overall grade: B/B-

Sorry about the terrible influx of teen books recently! It's simply coincidence that I've picked up so many quick teen reads lately. I've been slowly working through a few longer children's books, and hope to post about another one very soon.