Review: A stunning final chapter!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 30, 2012
must admit I feel like a bit of a broken record...but oh my...this book? Well this book was quite simply..stunning. I can tell you that Raise Your Glass by John Goode is not all hugs and kisses. In fact, this story was, at times, part gut-wrenching, part infuriating and terribly sweet. SO let's begin, shall we...let's step into that fertile land of John Goode's imagination and visit with his boys, Kyle and Brad, one more time.This story is the 3rd part in the ongoing saga of two high school boys Brad, baseball jock, popular in-crowd King, and well, frankly, just a bit of an ass. But that all changes--in oh so many ways after he meets Kyle, self-admitted emo-esque, nerdy brainiac and lonely guy who has lived most of his life in the shadows. In books 1 Maybe With a Chance of Certainty and 2 End of the Beginning our two boys meet, fall in love and "come out" to their conservative high school in Foster, Texas. At the beginning of this book they have just announced they are gay...and right off the bat, you know life is never going to be the same for these guys. The story picks up the following Monday at school."...As I walked by I could hear the creeping whisper follow me all the way to class. The Creeping Whisper is a virus that moves from person to person as Patient Zero walks down the hall."Honestly--who writes this kind of stuff? Is that not IT in a nutshell! Haven't we all at one time done something to bring the "creeping whisper" down upon us?? Don't you remember how intensely uncomfortable it was--knowing the entire class was talking..about YOU? Welcome to the first stroke of genius to fall from Mr. Goode's pen--you are there--with a few sentences you are back in high school--and it is so uncomfortable..so real..that already at page 29 you are hoping to god these boys make it. But the day has just begun...Things go rapidly from bad to worse for Brad and Kyle as they confront students and teachers alike who view their being gay as an "abomination." From a physical beating that Brad endures by a gang of supposed teammates to a painful and appalling conversation with a bigoted Assistant Principal who informs Kyle he will get no "special treatment" because of his "perversion", we walk through the most horrible day of high school ever imagined. And while these boys made a pact to stick it out together to the bitter end, the day simply overwhelms them and at one point Kyle finds himself alone..."I felt my resolve dive out from underneath me as I began to cry and cry and cry. And I didn't know if I would ever stop."Ah me...the journey John Goode takes us on in this novella...the painful yet simultaneously uplifting journey he has these two young men travel,was one traumatic moment after another. They endure as friends abandon them. They see how they are viewed by their peers and in many ways it strengthens their resolve to confront bullying in their school once and for all--even the bullying that they themselves took part in...or simply stood by and allowed to happen. For Brad, the day brought it's share of painful eye-opening revelations that he had been a piece of the problem and now, as he bore the brunt of bullying, he resolved to be part of the solution.Yes, there is a happy ever after of sorts, and initially, I felt that maybe, just maybe Mr Goode was cheating. I mean he had just dragged us through two days of hell at Foster High, gay-bashing, name-calling, hate-filled speeches by supposed authority figures. Then, all of a sudden, parents who, in previous installments in this series, were written as abusive alcoholics suddenly were standing up for their boys. I wanted to cry FOUL! I wanted to shake my head at Mr. Goode and say,"please, this is not realistic!" But then I paused...and I realized...that is exactly what happened to my friend. 35 years ago his parents stood up for him, faced down the administration of the private school we attended and the church to boot. It really can happen this way.John Goode didn't sell out...he showed us both sides of this story. He trotted out, with ruthless clarity, the hate and bigotry that so many of our LGBT youth endure every single day. He put it on display and dared us to look away from the searing truth that gay youth are despised and bullied and that it pervades our schools and churches and neighborhoods. Then he took us by the hand and showed us the tolerance of loving parents--not perfect parents, not by a long shot, but supportive parents. Parents who were willing to go toe to toe with bigots and shout them down with the law on their side.And here's the really stunning part, dear reader. He did it with humor and a compelling story and in-depth characterizations and really smart dialogue that never spoke down to us but rather, invited us to rise to its level of excellence. Raise Your Glass was a well-written and clever little novella that packed an emotional punch the likes of which I have rarely seen.5 stars...5 stars...and deserving of so much more. I highly recommend Raise Your Glass by John Goode. It is a MUST READ for anyone who has ever asked the question or lived through the experience of "what it's like to be a gay teenager who has just come out to the world."