David Inside Out
by Lee Bantle
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lee BantleEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-05-12
ISBN: 0805081224
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Book Reviews of David Inside Out
Book Review: A Nice Addition to Coming of Age Literature and Insightful Read
Summary: 5 Stars
Between track, school, college applications, and relationships David learns more about himself and others in many life-changing experiences.
For David, life isn't without challenges, with his father dying when he was five, high school classes, and now: coming to terms with his feelings towards men. While going through this self-discovery, he is fortunate to have the great support of his mother mom, who always seems to be there to lift him up just enough, but not overdo it to become overbearing.
His journey regarding his homosexuality started when his friend Eddie, an openly gay more effeminate character, who shares his love for romance novels, came out of the closet. At the moment, David wasn't too keen on the idea of being gay and didn't want to be involved with anything having to do with being gay including being around his best friend. However, he was still attracted to an eye-catching track teammate, Sean. To avoid homosexual thinking, David wore a rubber band around his wrist and snapped it to try to stop those thoughts.
The attractive runner, Sean, and David's relationship continued to evolve and became racy and romantic. Through their relationship they learn more about themselves in regards to their homosexuality, but also more about how they should treat people and their general identities. Sean turns out to be not the most perfect guy in the world, but also seems to be going through similar issues that David is facing. Kick, David's friend who's a girl, only complicated matters. At first David and Kick were great friends, and then they dated. Their friendship evolved while David's feelings towards guys developed further. While the relationship didn't work out romantically, David and Kick remained friends through hard times, including car trouble and freezing weather, while coming back from a weekend at a cabin in the woods.
Throughout the story, David faces homophobia through negative comments from Parker, who consistently makes homophobic remarks and even defaces a Gay-Straight Alliance sign. At first David is hesitant to take a stand against such homophobia by not being a part of the Gay- Straight Alliance his friend Eddie is trying to start. However, as David learns more about himself, he becomes more confident about who he is and his identity and becomes less afraid of being gay, and being seen with other people that are gay.
In the end, David becomes more comfortable with his sexuality. His relationships with Sean, Eddie, and Kick all change as he discovers more about himself. The novel's ending has many twists, which certainly makes the book much more interesting and less predictable.
David's struggle with identity and coming out is quite authentic, relatable, and tangible. The experiences draw the reader into the storyline whether positive, questioning, or negative. I liked the utilization of the hotline as a resource for LGBTQQ teens. DAVID INSIDE OUT is quite funny, due to David's thoughts and comments made by other characters, such as Eddie. Bantle skillfully develops David's relationships with other characters, particularly his mother and Sean. One question on identity I found insightful was: "How can you be yourself if you don't know who that is? (9)". People constantly say "be yourself" and I thought this was a great way of addressing that idea and the struggle regarding identity formation facing teens. One area I would have liked to see more development would be Eddie's background and his coming out struggles. This may be an interesting idea for a possible sequel.
The book, overall, was a positive, enjoyable, easy read and a nice addition to LGBTQ coming of age young adult literature, and leaves the reader with the message that it is okay to be gay and is a part of who one is as an individual and your friends may continue to be your friends regardless of sexuality.
-Dan
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