Someone Is Watching

Rating:
Summary: Good but not great book for Gay Teens
Review: I bought and read this book on the recommendation of some of the reviewers on Amazon. It's a light read, not very deep, and it was a good diversion. But from my point of view, there's too much of an emphasis on angst and romance rather than sex.

Let's face it: 17 year-olds in 1999 are ready to go at it like animals, not sit around and get kissy-faced for an hour. I'm not saying that the book's got to get real explicit, but I think there's a way to balance sex and romance in a story like this in a way that can be both realistic and yet also sensitive.

I also felt the language was a bit stilted in spots. Maybe I'm reacting too much on how I hear kids talk on TV, but the high school teens in Roeder's book just don't speak casually enough -- especially for rural Indiana. I also felt that the characters' dialog didn't delineate their personalities sharply enough. There's also two surprise deaths in about the middle of the book that I thought were handled poorly, because the author chose to deal with them in the past tense. If we had actively participated in the scene, I think it would have had a lot more impact.

That having been said: the mystery in the book is engaging, and the angst of the characters involved -- despite being overblown in spots -- is often entertaining. I enjoyed the book enough to recommend it, but with reservations.

Small literary side-comment: I was dismayed to find several annoying typos, and the slightly-amateurish printing and binding quality was a little disappointing.

The important thing is that at least books like these are being done, and maybe they'll reassure kids out there that yes, it's OK to be different. Kudos to the author for his messages of tolerance and understanding.

Rating:
Summary: Someone Is Reading
Review: I hope that someone is reading Mark Roeder's novel and enjoying it as much as I have. The plot centers on the high school sport of wrestling, the emotional agony of being a closeted gay athletic teenager in an American high school, and the threats of a mysterious "someone" who sends ominous notes to our gay teen...He certainly never chose to be gay. When Ethan realizes the truth, he exclaims,"Why did this have to happen to me? I hadn't ask for it, didn't want it. Why me?"...An excellent book for any teenage gay whether or not he is an athlete. It is also an interest-holding story. Plenty of action. Plenty of conflict. I have to admit the ending, however, is rather contrived. Moreover perhaps the violence is a bit exaggerated. But I love it and would highly recommend this novel to anyone at any age, although it would probably be best appreciated by gays, teenagers, and teachers.

Rating:
Summary: What Crap!
Review: I read this book and think it was pretty good EXCEPT damn I'm gay and I'd be stoned to death if my best friend knew! it just ain't that easy as the writer suggests. When was the last time your straight friends stood up for YOU when you were confronted about your sexual preferences?
Like I said it was good reading but don't go advertise to the world that your are gay and expect the same kind of responses that this lucky dude had!

Rating:
Summary: Someone Is Watching
Review: Mark A Roeder has written a book that is a suspenceful page turner. I found it hard to put down, when I started reading it. It is a heartfelt exploration of what it's like to be gay and trying to hide it from yourself and those around you. Nathan just wants to love and be loved. His life becomes a nightmare when someone starts leaving threatening notes in his locker at school. He also has to deal with the suicides of two of his friends who were outed.
There are several heart pounding edge of your seat scenes in the boook. I loved this book from cover to cover and was sad that it ended. Nathans journey to excepting himself is a hard one, but worth it. Will he find out who his tormentor is and why he is being tormented? Will he find true love? Read Someone Is Watching and find out for yourself. You'll be glad you did. The good thing is this book is just one in a series of books known as The Gay Youth Chronicles. Gays and non gays of all ages will find these rewarding.

Rating:
Summary: a great read
Review: Mr. Roeder has once again given us a view into the mind of a teen-ager who is coming to grips with the reality of who he is. One of Mark's gifts is his ability to write his novels in the style that teen-agers think. You can really believe that you've picked up the journal of a 16 year old boy who has confided his innermost thoughts and feelings to you.

An essential part of Mark's great series, "Gay Youth Chronicles", be sure to add this one to your reading list.

Rating:
Summary: a great read
Review: Mr. Roeder has once again given us a view into the mind of a teen-ager who is coming to grips with the reality of who he is. One of Mark's gifts is his ability to write his novels in the style that teen-agers think. You can really believe that you've picked up the journal of a 16 year old boy who has confided his innermost thoughts and feelings to you.

An essential part of Mark's great series, "Gay Youth Chronicles", be sure to add this one to your reading list.

Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful and a reward
Review: This book, about a high school jock just discovering his feelings towards other boys takes a spooky turn when he begins recieving notes in his locker from somebody who apparently has figured out the secret even he just realized about himself. AS he tries to keep a semblance of normalcy he begins to try to figure out who is doing this to him? A friend joking? a girl angry at him? and what about that new Ranch hand his uncle hired who always looks so sad?
A big more upbeat than his first book "Antient Prejudice Break to New Mutiny" with a nice reward at the end for those hopeless romantics out there. I recomend this one for a rainy weekend.

Rating:
Summary: GAY FICTION AT ITS BEST! SUPERB!
Review: This is one of the best novels I have ever read. Mark Roeder is an author of the highest caliber. His writing is clear and direct. He has a finely tuned dialogue ear. His adolescent male conversations are very close to the way young men actually speak, instead of the vulgar, course dialogue attributed to them and used in current movies and television. Yes, people still do speak correctly, and not just in rural Indiana. He uses repetition to help us know what his characters are experiencing. and what they are thinking about. The first time I experienced love I think I thought about it all day long and told my best friend about it 500 times a day. This is a beautiful story, beautifully told. I've read all Roeder's books and I can say that each is a wonderful journey. Just go along. Let Mark Roeder help you feel. Help you learn. This is a very well-written work, a work that is not oblique, but understood by any intelligent person from 14 to 104!

Rating:
Summary: great story
Review: This, the second book in Mark's Verona series, is a very good story about a young athlete coming out of the closet (really kind of forced out of the closet) to all his athlete friends. That revelation would usually cause the boy to be beaten up, but previous events (from "Ancient Prejudice") cause most all of the student body to accept him and his lifestyle. Maybe it's not totally realistic, as some of the reviewers whine, but it's a good story, and I love happy endings. A must read for everyone who is open to diversity in people.