Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Poison Lilac

Thanks mainly to gay-friendly media outlets, progressive Sex Ed. teachers, and GSA's (Gay/Straight Alliances) in schools, more and more gay kids are feeling comfortable enough to come out at a younger and younger age. There is still homophobia - especially in schools - but now there are places to hide from it, people to talk to about it, and organizations to assure gay teens that they are not, in fact, evil. Best of all, there is a new wave of GLBT (gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender) books directed at teens to help them deal with any discrimination they might face, and make them proud of who they are.

'Ring Around the Moon' is not one of these books. Yeah, gay kids might like it because hey, who doesn't love reading about themselves? But mainly it serves a different - but no less important - purpose: a book written by a straight kid for straight kids trying to show them what homophobia does to closeted gay teens. With the first book ending on an attempted suicide (I can only hope that Asher gets it together in the next couple of books), this is not at all a message of hope to conflicted closet-cases. But if you're looking for a trilogy that whacks the religious right upside the head and yells, "See what you're doing, ya buncha morons?!?!?!" you've come to the right place!

One thing that struck me when I was reading this book was that it was like no YA novel I'd ever read before. For one thing, it's about 8th graders, and YA novelists NEVER write about 8th graders. They love to skip over them and write about either 6th-7th graders or high schoolers. I think they like to pretend 8th grade doesn't exist. And when they DO write about 8th graders, they make them act and talk like they're younger than they really are. Anya Weinstein actually has them swearing, and fighting, and referencing sex. Hey, adults: THIS IS WHAT 8TH GRADE IS ACTUALLY LIKE!!!! Finally, someone writes about kids the way they REALLY are. Also, 'Ring Around the Moon' was written sort of like a 19th century book - especially that first description of Lucas. It reminds me of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' and it actually is kind of the muckraker novel of the 21st century. It has a theme and dang it, it's not at all shy in telling you what it is!!!

I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because it ends on a HUGE cliffhanger with like a million plotlines dangling. I can already tell that this trilogy is basically one storyline extended over three books rather than three separate stories, so 'Ring Around the Moon' is kind of like 1/3rd of a really long novel. But man, is it a GOOD 1/3rd! If Anya keeps this pace up, she may just have a classic on her hands. Let's just hope teachers are bold enough to assign 'Words Like Weeds' to middle-school kids... the ones that really need to hear this message.