A Better Place :

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Summary: Everything you could want in a real romance story!
Review: This was the romance story I have been searching all year for! How easy is it to find? Not easy at all! You've tasted purity of love and the devestating pain of loss in Mercedes Lackey's "The Last Herald-Mage" series. You've found the long lost classic "Maurice; a novel" E.M. Forster and "The god in Flight" Laura Argiri. You've read the more contempory novels like RD Zimmerman's "Hostage" and Alex Sanchez's "The Rainbow Boys" Well this is it! Casper and Brendan are the perfect match, so sweet and loving. Casper needed someone soo bad and thank god it was smart and understanding Brendan. In fact this story shows something that is refreshingly new and rarely seen; that all our education isn't wasted on the young. Kids in the here and now aren't so dumb or naive (mostly)as their parents may have been. There is still predjuice and ignorance but MAYBE it's not so strong in this next generation. Maybe with continuing education and generations it will disappear.. Well the first 'Part' is more then half the book and is the meat of Casper & Brendan's story. In Part 2 new characters are added and they meet others in Roeder's universe, a little slower paced here but no less wonderful (also a great taste of his other stories.) BUY IT. YOU WON'T REGRET IT!

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Summary: A Review of A Better Place by Cheri
Review: "A Better Place", by Mark A. Roeder, is an engrossing tale of two boys from different worlds who fall in love. Readers may already be familiar with Roeder's other books in the "Gay Youth Chronicles" series. These include, "Ancient Prejudice", "The Soccer Field is Empty" and "Someone is Watching", to name a few.

It is sad that young boys are taunted and shamed into keeping their true identities securely hidden. What could Brendan, a beautiful, incredibly popular, seventeen year old boy, captain of the football team, and an A student, have to fear when he seems to have the world on a plate? The truth is that he is gay and if anyone finds out, his life as he knows it, will be over. Could such fear of discovery be worth taking your own life, or even thinking about it?

And what does Casper have to fear? He is fifteen, motherless, poor, lonely, and tormented by his brother, neglected by his alcoholic father, and bullied at school. He never gets sufficient food to eat, has a sparse wardrobe, and often sleeps outdoors to escape his abusive brother. He hasn't even admitted to himself that he likes boys. What would happen to him if people suspected he was gay too?

Brendan and Casper make an unlikely couple, the rich boy who has everything, and the poor boy that has nothing, but they hook up. Their relationship is a bit stormy at first but Casper learns to trust Brendan, comes to terms with his homosexuality, and is able to return Brendan's love.

Roeder gives us an amazing portrayal of the fear, self-loathing, and other problems these boys experience because of their sexual orientation. He captures the boys' emotions so deeply that the reader's own heart breaks for them and for all boys like them. It is disgraceful that they are made to feel perverted, abnormal, and inferior because much of society has deemed homosexuality immoral.

It makes any accepting human being want to fix society, to change the puritanical idea that same sex love is wrong, to pass legislation that makes same sex marriage legal, and accept that it is diversity that makes our country great. We should all be free to love who we want without fear of discrimination, hatred, and prejudice.

Anyone who has ever been teased or tormented appreciates the emotional toll it takes on self confidence and self esteem. It is depressing to hear Casper describe himself as "poor, unpopular, weak, puny, and pathetic," while the reader sees a sweet, loveable, bright, and undernourished boy. Brendan's love for Casper makes him even more desirable.

Roeder shows, parents who can not accept their children's sexual orientation and love them unconditionally, parents who do not protect their children, and a society that allows places like Cloverdale, a mental institution that uses physical, chemical (drugs), and psychological means to "cure" people of their homosexuality. There can be no equality and freedom until people accept that nothing can (or should) be done to make gay people straight.

This story offers hope that a better place, away from fear, hatred, intolerance, and discrimination, does exist and at the same time, tells a heartwarming, exciting, and enjoyable story. I love Mark Roeder's books and hope he continues to share his talent with us for years to come.

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Summary: Courage to Love
Review: Love is never easy. But, when you are young, have no legal rights, and are despised by many other people, "never easy" becomes "almost impossible." Casper and Brendan are opposites in every way. Each of them, on their own, is limited by their situations. That changes when they are able to admit the feelings they have for each other. Together they are able to overcome disapproving families, abusive relatives, bigoted classmates, and a world that wants to keep them apart.

The give-and-take convention of having each boy tell his own story in alternating chapters presents a clear picture of the relationship between them and heightens the suspense of the story. Strangely enough, although the convention does intensify the action in the book, it also draws one into the more tender moments. I was chilled by the therapeutic techniques used to change Brendan and by the abuse in Casper's homelife. But, I was entranced to watch the relationship between Casper and Brendan develop. It made it hard to deny that this love is real.

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Summary: a bittersweet story
Review: (...)All i want to say is how much i loved this book,it broke my heart then put it back together again,which if you have read this book i'm sure youll understand.
I bought this book on my home site Amazon uk for (...) (quite a bit of money), but after reading this book i would have gladly payed double that.
And i will definitely be buying mr Roeder's other work.

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Summary: This is a great continuation of the Verona, Indiana Storys!!
Review: A Better Place is a novel of Love and Admiration that shows just how much opposites can attract! With all the ugliness going on in the world these day's it is very enjoyable to read books such as this one that leaves your heart filled with such love and joy.

Mark Roeder has an incredible way of merging the feelings and love two people can have and manage to make those two people bond in such a way that you are just warmed inside knowing they will always be together.

The two lead characters in this book, Casper, the very poor, high school boy that lives in an abusive household with a brother that beats up on him, and worse, a father that does not care about his kids at all. His mother died a few years back. Casper quite often goes without food since his father does not spend his money on feeding his kids. Then there is Brendan, the popular, very rich jock, that is the quarterback and captain of the football team.

They fall for each other, but when Brendan is outed, his parents send him to a mental hospital that is meant to 'cure' him of his homosexuality. Some of the things that happen there are disturbing and hard to read at sometimes.

The Author makes both Brendan and Casper that gay couple that was meant to be together and will go through just about anything to be together. Mark Roeder does a great job of merging in characters from his past novels into this one.

Again, I would highly recommend reading the 3 previous novels (Ancient Prejudice, Someone is Watching, and for entertainment, Someone is Killing the Gay boys of Verona), to get the full background and experience that sets up this novel. Although the reading of the previous novels are not necessary for reading this book, as it can stand alone very well, I would still urge a new reader to Mark Roeder's novels to get all his books and enjoy them.

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Summary: a book to keep you up
Review: a better place is a story about the preduce and misunderstandings there are about gays this story tells of two teenagers one rich the other poor that fall in love when brendans parents find out about him they send him off to a clinic to get him "cured" at the clinic they use shock theripy and drugs that end up screwing up the kids royally casper and brendans friends break him out and them him and casper run away to gether the book will keep you up till you finish it unable to put it down.

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Summary: A Better Place
Review: A Better Place is the very first novel written by Mark A Roeder, that I read. It is part of a series called The Gay Youth Chronicles. I have since read all of them including the latest one This Time Around, which was just published at the end of march.
A Better Place is griping and awesome. Be warned though, you are going to need tissues next to your reading area. It beautifully tells the love story of two unlikely lovers. Brendan, the popular high school football star hunk from a well to do family. Then there is Casper a poor puny, under nurished runt who is terrorized by school mates and brutlized by his older brother. Not to mention a drunken uncaring dad. I loved this book because the drama never slows down and at the end of the book, I felt like, I had taken the journey with them to a better place.

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Summary: Great Summer Read!
Review: A great book for your summer vacation. Both my partner and read it while on vacation at the lake. Neither of us could put it down. It's a wonderful romance novel between 2 boys who fall in love and struggle to find their place in the world. If you loved the The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton when you were young, you'll love this book as an adult.

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Summary: A Novel about Romance
Review: Before I bought the book, I read some of the reviews here. The opinions are stretched out to the two extremes. After reading the book, I think both sides are correct. In terms of diction, sentence composition and writing style in general, this is indeed not a difficult book as one side pointed out. If you are looking for the richness of language, maybe this is not your number one choice. Meanwhile, I found beauty in the simplicity of the book. More precisely, I found myself lost in the romance that the author sensitively expresses with his uncomplicated words and carefully weaves in between the lines and passages throughout this novel. Though unrealistic it may seem from time to time, the ideal of love that we were raised to believe in and pursue after is reconstructed between the two protagonists, Brendan and Casper in this novel. And to me, given that love at its ¡°ideal¡± itself implies that it may be unrealistic, this is still a good book that is worthwhile of your money and time.

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Summary: peaked early, reached a plateau
Review: Brendan is the dream guy! All fears of both characters were legit. The first part of the book was totally awesome from the way the character profiles were set-upped upto the whole relationship thing. The second part of the book was more of a cross over. Not the continuity one is expecting after the great first part but nontheless it is a great book. Looking forward for a sequel of the 2 characters if there is any.