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Summary: Tears should be kissed away by someone who loves you.
Review: I think what makes a great writer is their ability to touch some emotions if not all of them. Bart Yates did just that. Yates causes me to hate, get angry, feel sad, and feel love. Love for J.D. and Noah and out of that love comes Hope. Hope that someday the world will become a place where love like J.D. and Noah can be allow to live and grow free as it should. Yates most importantly leaves the reader wanted more. Wanting answer to questions like, Will Virginia York remarry? Will J.D. and Noah go off to college together? Will J.D. become a concert pianist and Noah a famous artist? Or will they just buy a small two story building in a historic downtown area, open a gallery, and use the upper floor as living spaces and a studio?
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Summary: Quirky combo tale
Review: A very well-written book that combines a coming of age tale with a mystery story.
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Summary: Don't leave this book behind!
Review: Bart Yates writes a poignant and somewhat believable account of the Noah York, a seventeen-year-old high school student who falls in love with his neighbor, J.D. Noah's mother is a bucketful of dysfunction, but she must be as an accomplished poet. While she's at times permissive and at others psychotic, Noah must navigate the waters of his adolescence without losing his own sanity, or losing his life. Though Yates writes with style and insight, there are a few places where the boundaries of believability are stretched thin...yet, he manages to avoid stepping completely past those points and does so without coming across as schmaltzy or trite. It's been a long while since I've read a novel with a gay central character that hasn't covered the same ground that everyone else has. "Leave Myself Behind" is that break-through novel.
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Summary: Not the Same Old Story
Review: Bart Yates' novel is a "Coming of Age" story. I say that for classification only. This novel deals with many of the standard coming out issues, but also many other issues that normally are not found in print. There have been a few criticisms about the language, but I hardly found it excessive and in fact some books I have read were quite offensive in that respect.I found the characters easy to get to know and in fact almost mesmorizing. Noah is engaging in an honest manner and there is an innocence to J.D. that just tugged at my heart. The only criticism I have, and this is my issue, is that the same or very similar circumstance has happened to three of the characters in this novel, which to say the least is highly unusual at best, but this is fiction and it doesn't have to remain in the true to life mold. I found the novel difficult to put down and I still find myself going back to certain sections to reread. I hope the author might consider a sequel to this novel. I highly recommend reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Same Old Story
Review: Bart Yates' novel is a "Coming of Age" story. I say that for classification only. This novel deals with many of the standard coming out issues, but also many other issues that normally are not found in print. There have been a few criticisms about the language, but I hardly found it excessive and in fact some books I have read were quite offensive in that respect. I found the characters easy to get to know and in fact almost mesmorizing. Noah is engaging in an honest manner and there is an innocence to J.D. that just tugged at my heart. The only criticism I have, and this is my issue, is that the same or very similar circumstance has happened to three of the characters in this novel, which to say the least is highly unusual at best, but this is fiction and it doesn't have to remain in the true to life mold. I found the novel difficult to put down and I still find myself going back to certain sections to reread. I hope the author might consider a sequel to this novel. I highly recommend reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: NOT BAD FOR A DEBUT NOVEL
Review: Bart Yates's "Leave Myself Behind" is an entertaining read without reaching the level of artistic merit that a few other reviewers have allocated it. The main character, Noah, is a rather annoying young man who rather exemplifies the sort of crass and inappropriate nature of so many of today's youth (I know what you are all thinking, but I'm actually only 27; so these inconsiderate and often downright rude adolecents were, and unfortunately still are, my peers). Anyway, back to the book... There were several endearing qualities to Mr. Yates's writing style (some beautiful descriptions, some poignant prose, and several just plain hilarious "zingers"). There were also some moments when it felt like perhaps the main purpose of Noah was to be the voice to express some of the author's own unexpressed feelings and prejudices. Overall, an enjoyable read, but certainly no "Catcher in the Rye!"
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Summary: A Dazzlingly Brilliant Debut Novel
Review: Bart Yates, where have you been hiding? According to the book jacket blurb he is a teacher and a freelance musician. But somewhere along the line Bart Yates learned how to write extraordinarily well. His first novel LEAVE MYSELF BEHIND is not only well written, it is at once hilariously comic, disturbingly sad, achingly profound, and just plain good reading! Noah and his mother Virgina York (a poet) move to New Hampshire from the big city of Chicago when Noah's father has suddenly died. Once transplanted to New England, Noah slowly comes to grips with his sexuality, Virginia as slowly becomes crazed with the house they've purchased since it is the former dwelling of another woman poet and contains mysterious Mason Jars within the walls that unravel an entirely different (and equally entertaining) novel!, and the small town of Oakland, New Hampshire peels away secrets of gay bashing, incest, rape, alcoholism, insanity and any number of bizarre twists. The solid anchor of this book is the language and tone and insight of the narrator - Noah York - who at seventeen has a rich imagination, a wry outlook, a way of thinking and expressing himself that makes all the madness of the dysfunctional world fall into place for us, the readers. This could be called a gay novel, but though it very sensitively and sensuously relates the blossoming of love between Noah and the boy next door J.D. and then incorporates the reality check of being openly gay in a small town highschool, it is much more than that. This novel has many rich and surprising stories and comments on our world today and presents all of this information not in an offensively preachy manner, but in a way that reveals exactly how vulnerable and needy we ALL are when it comes to loving and being loved, being without love and groping for it. Some novels just get to you and this is one. Bart Yates, please write another and another. You have so much innate talent and gift for story telling that it is simply mind boggling! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED reading for just about everyone who loves good books.
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Summary: Don't leave this one behind!
Review: I absolutely loved this book. The characters were honest and sympathetic. I could not put this book down. I cannot wait to read more - please hurry Mr. Yates! This story has not left my mind since I read the last word of the final page. The love story is truly touching as is the relationship between the main character and his mother. I don't want to spoil the book by giving anything away. This book is definitely worth your time.
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Summary: Fantastic
Review: I am not much of a writer but I am a reader. This is one of the best books I have read in ages. It is a one day quick read that I could not put down. I truely reccommend this book.
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Summary: Pleasantly original and still yet cliché...
Review: I see this book telling several stories at once. On one side you have young and occasionally tested love. Which is cute, if not predictable, and like everything else that takes place in this book... only innocent on the surface. On another side, however, there is the tale of loss and betrayal of three different women and the men who--loved them? Ah, well. If you're looking for a quick read with an angsty plot and smattering of boy on boy (age 16-18) love, then this is for you.
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