Not every gay teen yearns for fashion and popular culture. Some boys are pure country folk and like the feel of flannel and the smell of the farm. And they’re neither lithe nor muscle-bound but stocky boys, the ones who develop hairy chests, arms, and faces years earlier than their peers. One such seventeen year old is Travis Ferrell, shy among most of the other kids at school, but proud of his West Virginia roots. He has not yet admitted his passion for handsome guys—and his idea of what handsome is, and what handsome does, is not much different from him. Soon he’ll learn that he’s not unique; gay culture has a name for young men like him. Cubs.
I would have never come upon this author, and this story, if I hadn't been assigned it as reading for the Rainbow Awards. I continually stumble across novels and authors I really want to check out through this process.
The story is simple. Travis Ferrell loves living with his grandmother on the family farm in West Virginia while his parents spend a year doing consultant work in Germany. He is wonderful in school; in fact he has a scholarship to the University of West Virginia, but crowds of people really unnerve him. He wants to go to UWV, then return to the rural life. He plans to double-major in Forestry and English, and he really wants to re-hookup with his gay female friends from high school who have preceded him to college.
Things couldn't be simpler until he runs across the school scapegrace, Mike Woodson. Mike does what Travis wishes he could do: he runs with the cool crowd in school, he's athletic, rides a motorcycle, and seems to have his life together working part-time in his father's garage. Not to mention that he's handsome and muscular where Travis feels ordinary and "stocky."
Something else about Travis: he has these thoughts. He wants to tie guys up, gag them, then have his way with them. This does not fit with a good West Virginia Christian boy's upbringing at all. But he can't get those pesky ideas out of his head.
Fortunately, he and Mike bond over Travis' desire to bulk up after he is bashed by Brent Vass and his buddy, Jack Holt; the kinds of guys that a young Hart Bochner or James Spader would play in a John Hughes movie. Snotty athletes with the hangers-on who help kick a guy when he's down. Mike is cool with helping Travis, and things take off from there.
Actually, the story is so simple, and done so often, that I'm having trouble explaining why this book is so good. Travis excels in school while Mike is scraping by with shop classes. These two should be oil and water, aside from the fact both have beards, little bellies, and are hairy as the dickens. Then there are those BDSM (lite) thoughts of Travis' that Mike finds more than interesting.
This is a YA novel for people who are looking for something different from the usual angst that drives so many youth-oriented stories. I can't say it any simpler: this is a charming story that should be ordinary, and is far from it. And then there's that book cover.
Recommended for people who like their YA with a bit of a Bear twist. Or maybe people who just enjoy a well-written, somewhat out of the ordinary, coming of age story.
Not every gay teen yearns for fashion and popular culture. Some boys are pure country folk and like the feel of flannel and the smell of the farm. And they’re neither lithe nor muscle-bound but stocky boys, the ones who develop hairy chests, arms, and faces years earlier than their peers. One such seventeen year old is Travis Ferrell, shy among most of the other kids at school, but proud of his West Virginia roots. He has not yet admitted his passion for handsome guys—and his idea of what handsome is, and what handsome does, is not much different from him. Soon he’ll learn that he’s not unique; gay culture has a name for young men like him. Cubs.
I would have never come upon this author, and this story, if I hadn't been assigned it as reading for the Rainbow Awards. I continually stumble across novels and authors I really want to check out through this process.
The story is simple. Travis Ferrell loves living with his grandmother on the family farm in West Virginia while his parents spend a year doing consultant work in Germany. He is wonderful in school; in fact he has a scholarship to the University of West Virginia, but crowds of people really unnerve him. He wants to go to UWV, then return to the rural life. He plans to double-major in Forestry and English, and he really wants to re-hookup with his gay female friends from high school who have preceded him to college.
Things couldn't be simpler until he runs across the school scapegrace, Mike Woodson. Mike does what Travis wishes he could do: he runs with the cool crowd in school, he's athletic, rides a motorcycle, and seems to have his life together working part-time in his father's garage. Not to mention that he's handsome and muscular where Travis feels ordinary and "stocky."
Something else about Travis: he has these thoughts. He wants to tie guys up, gag them, then have his way with them. This does not fit with a good West Virginia Christian boy's upbringing at all. But he can't get those pesky ideas out of his head.
Fortunately, he and Mike bond over Travis' desire to bulk up after he is bashed by Brent Vass and his buddy, Jack Holt; the kinds of guys that a young Hart Bochner or James Spader would play in a John Hughes movie. Snotty athletes with the hangers-on who help kick a guy when he's down. Mike is cool with helping Travis, and things take off from there.
Actually, the story is so simple, and done so often, that I'm having trouble explaining why this book is so good. Travis excels in school while Mike is scraping by with shop classes. These two should be oil and water, aside from the fact both have beards, little bellies, and are hairy as the dickens. Then there are those BDSM (lite) thoughts of Travis' that Mike finds more than interesting.
This is a YA novel for people who are looking for something different from the usual angst that drives so many youth-oriented stories. I can't say it any simpler: this is a charming story that should be ordinary, and is far from it. And then there's that book cover.
Recommended for people who like their YA with a bit of a Bear twist. Or maybe people who just enjoy a well-written, somewhat out of the ordinary, coming of age story.