Rating: 
Summary: Not for Queers Only
Review: This collection of 25 autobiographical essays about gays and lesbians at age 13 is not for queers only. You may ask, what makes it a Jewish Book? Well, what is age 13? The age of bar and bat mitzvah's, the age of wo/manhood, seventh grade, hair growth, Keds, adolescence, zits, humiliation, name-calling, teen-star posters, summer camp bunkmates, Playboy magazines, and peer scrutiny. An age when you make your way to Junior High, gain friends, lose friends, outgrow friends, and are outgrown by others... a time when some focus on band practice and other on athletics, and others... who knows. At least six of the writers discuss their Jewish adolescence, so the book may be of interest to Jewish readers. They include Robert Gluck's "Three from Thirteen", in which he mentions the irony of his Bar Mitzvah parsha being the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. In Gabrielle Glancy's "Train", she discusses how she managed the school officer campaign of her German/Swiss, swastika loving classmate, even though she was obsessed with fellow tribesman, David Gittelman, as well as Diane McCann. In David Bergman's "A Close Escape," David recounts a sickly miserable life in Queens NY which was enriched by an enchanting performance of the puppet show, Sleeping Beauty, and his desire for association with one boy and lust for another. David's Bar Mitzvah was a grim, small, estranged affair which marked his escape from shul and elementary school. In Wayne Koestenbaum's "Fashions of 1971", Wayne writes about his boy scout uniform, bell bottoms, LOVE shirt, fringe, P.E. class jocks and coaches, tube socks, and Becky's slip. In Lisa Cohen's "Still Life with Boys" we find a make out scene with the Bar Mitzvah boy. And in Michael Lowenthal's (SAME EMBRACE) "Lost in Translation", he recounts Spanish class, the derision of classmates, a Bar Mitzvah sleepover party, and his desire for a classmate.
Rating: 
Summary: Memory Lane
Review: What a wonderful collection. It evokes all the hazy confusion, awkward self-awareness, and occassional moments of innocent joy that are part of growing up gay. A great book to share with teens who may be struggling with issues of identity and difference.
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