Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy this book
Review: The most overrated gay novel of the year. Hated it. Stuggled to finish it. Sold it on EBay the next day....Although I grew up in the same era, I identified with NOTHING in this book. It seemed to be written for the sake of writing something....
Rating: 
Summary: Reading this book was like remembering....
Review: There were so many moments while reading this book that just made me pause & think to myself "Wow... I remember feeling like that!". This book was brilliantly written for a first novel. The characters were quite believable & the plot was all too realistic. I finished this book with the kind of sadness that only comes when you don't want something to end.
Rating: 
Summary: The World of Normal Fiction
Review: This book was a major disappointment to me. Mainly because I found it hard to suspend disbelief at several key points in the narrative. In fiction, an author has license to present the events he or she wants to describe. But this should be done in a way which agrees with other previously presented plot elements and characterizations. I don't expect a mirror of my perspective when I read -- especially not in fiction. However, I do expect characters to have believable -- or at least well-explained -- motivations, emotional reactions which are consistent with their (often complex) personalities, and progressive development which indicates that the author gave that aspect of his or her novel adequate attention. I'll refrain from providing an example since this might spoil the novel for those who are less particular than I. Another major problem I had with this novel had to do with it's presentation as a coming-of-age novel. The protaganist here has experiences but none of these seem to change him markedly. Life should be handled as more than the completion of a checklist. The novel ends with the main character having put an 'x' beside: first major family tragedy, first love, first sexual experiences, first broken heart, first realization of parents as people, etc. And there is disappointingly little character development to show for all this. In spite of all that, I did find myself pulled along by the narrative -- wondering how each set of circumstances would be resolved. Unfortunately, this curiosity is what brings us back to the cheapest forms of creative art -- serial fiction (i.e. detective novels, soap operas). Satisfaction of that curiosity is easy. Giving us great fiction is far more difficult.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best gay coming of age stories ever!
Review: I think this is one of the finest gay themed novels that I have ever read. I could barely put it down. It brought back many, many memories of my own high school experiences - I laughed and cried throughout! Having read many gay novels, I put this novel right up there at the top with my other favorites including Flesh and Blood by Michael Cunningham and Like People in History by Felice Picano. I dare anyone to read the description early in the book of the art teacher with the long hair without a smile! P.S. - The reviewer from Thailand completely missed the point of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Non-starter for me
Review: I did not like this book at all. In fact, I threw it away. But then again, I have no interest in John Travolta or his fans, and I have a quirky thing about authors who make elementary blunders with the English language. (I believe on the first page, the author speaks of something "invoking" memories or emotions in him. "Invoke" is what you do with the name of God; the word he wants is doubtless "evoke"; "cause" or "stir up" would probably be better English.)
Rating: 
Summary: Where Have all the Normal Boys Gone?
Review: The 70's...... an era of drive in movies, grease, john travolta and olivia-newton-john, pot smoking, leather wearing, motorcycle riding masses of muscle and testosterone..... alas, this novel brings everything back with such clarity that you can smell it seeping through the pages. 13 year old Robin MacKenzie is starting highschool in the midst of all of this and to make matters worse he is totally confused about his sexuality. His best friend is a girl who is experiencing changes of her own, his younger brother is closer to his Father than he ever hopes to be, and his mother still makes trips into the "city" with him where they create a fantasy world of handsome rogues, starlets and other escapes from reality! Tragedy strikes the family and suddenly Robin discovers that the literal "boy next door" is perhaps the boy he has always been looking for. The ensuing roadtrip is rife with burgeoning hormones, pot smoking, sexual awakenings and other hilarious anecdotes that recall that queasy feeling that young gay boys experience on their own road to self identity. For a debut novel, this is definitely a class act that deserves a follow-up. Pick it up, caress it, lose yourself in it!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: This is the first book I've had to read in one sitting in as long as I can remember. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A gay coming of age story that's well worth your time
Review: Soehnlein takes a potentially tired genre-the gay coming of age story-and crafts a lively, compelling story filled with dead-on observations about sex and boys and the pains of growing up. Set in the tacky days of the late 1970s, the story focuses on the end of 13-year-old Robin MacKenzie's sexual innocence, as well as on the fracturing effect a tragedy has on his family. The bottom line is, this is a great read with great characters and great writing (and hot sex scenes to boot). I read a lot of gay fiction, and this novel would easily go on my list of favorites.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding debut
Review: K.M. Soehnlein has captured the essence of growing up gay in the '70s with grace, style, humor, and compassion. While reading this book, I laughed aloud many times, and was just as quickly stunned into silence by the harsh realities Soehnlein creates. It's a good read for anyone, gay or straight, who remembers (or wants to remember) what it was like to be young.
Rating:
Summary: great coming of age book
Review: As he begins high school, protagonist Robin McKenzie vows to find a girlfriend, participate in sports, and get into "at least one fight." In other words, do everything "normal" suburban teens do in the 1970's to be cool and to fit in. But when his brother is seriously injured in an accident, and Robin finds other boys who initiate him into sex, fitting in becomes a distant goal. His new friend has secrets, too, including an abusive parent. As his own parents worry over his brother, Robin is left on his own to experiment. Caught between the expectations of his parents and his peers, he slowly comes to the realization that "normal" is not all it's cracked up to be, and moreover, not as easily defined as it once was.
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