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TOTALLY JOE by James Howe
Jun. 26th, 2005 03:32 pmAs long-time readers of this blog know, I'm a big fan of James Howe's writing, especially his book THE MISFITS, which I think is such a perfectly constructed and moving middle grade novel.
TOTALLY JOE is a sequel to THE MISFITS focusing on the gay character from that titular group of friends. It's written as an alphabiography, wherein Joe has 26 entries ranging from A-Z. Despite this curious approach, the book manages to have a very strong narrative, and it is filled with Howe's characteristic bits of humor and charm.
Although I am afraid that overall I felt disappointed in the book. Whereas THE MISFITS eschewed clichés and easy answers at every turn, I think TOTALLY JOE falls prey to quite a number of these, and fits squarely in the gay teen novel school that has (for me at least) gotten so boring. I am so tired of gay YAs with a closeted jock in them!
If you've read THE MISFITS, its fun to revisit these characters. If you haven't read THE MISFITS, start with that. (Even if you're more interested in the queer content rather than the YA lit aspect, THE MISFITS is the stronger book.)
FYI: Bruce Coville's Full Cast Audio (www.fullcastaudio.com) has an audio recording of THE MISFITS, too, for those who'd rather listen to it that way.
TOTALLY JOE is a sequel to THE MISFITS focusing on the gay character from that titular group of friends. It's written as an alphabiography, wherein Joe has 26 entries ranging from A-Z. Despite this curious approach, the book manages to have a very strong narrative, and it is filled with Howe's characteristic bits of humor and charm.
Although I am afraid that overall I felt disappointed in the book. Whereas THE MISFITS eschewed clichés and easy answers at every turn, I think TOTALLY JOE falls prey to quite a number of these, and fits squarely in the gay teen novel school that has (for me at least) gotten so boring. I am so tired of gay YAs with a closeted jock in them!
If you've read THE MISFITS, its fun to revisit these characters. If you haven't read THE MISFITS, start with that. (Even if you're more interested in the queer content rather than the YA lit aspect, THE MISFITS is the stronger book.)
FYI: Bruce Coville's Full Cast Audio (www.fullcastaudio.com) has an audio recording of THE MISFITS, too, for those who'd rather listen to it that way.
