VOYA, December 2014 (Vol. 37, No. 5) - Ellen Frank
This coming-of-age novel comprises diary entries about sexual identity, alcoholism, bullying, peer pressure, and other concerns in David’s life as a graduating senior in Arkansas. David questions himself and faces hard choices when he meets Jon, a new classmate with whom he is slowly falling in love. David reveals his deepest issues in this fictional diary. The reader follows along as he grapples with life-changing decisions. The novel takes readers through the personal struggles of today’s teens in light of social media, threats to personal privacy, heightened awareness of personal rights, and the struggle to assert these rights. The novel is colored with modern-day slang and mild profanity, expressions like “mind meld,” “fag,” and “douche bag.” There are mildly descriptive sex scenes between both heterosexual and homosexual couples. The novel confronts homophobia, bullying, teen drinking, and teen sex in a straightforward way, without seeming pedantic. The book may appeal to lovers of Glee and high school athletes who are hiding a secret part of themselves. One of the best lines in the book is from Monica, the former girlfriend of David, who accepts David as he is and advises, “Don’t keep that part of yourself for too long . . . You won’t be happy until you give it away.” The title includes a list of resources for teens struggling with suicide, depression, and sexual-identity issues. Reviewer: Ellen Frank; Ages 15 to 18.
The Book of David
by AnonymousView All Available Formats & Editions
His secret is his downfall. A riveting, first-person tale in the tradition of Go Ask Alice and Lucy in the Sky.
The author of this fictional diary began writing for a class assignment, but soon it became much more to him. As the star player of his high school football team, he faces a lot of pressure and expectation. Not to mention the secret that
… See more details belowOverview
His secret is his downfall. A riveting, first-person tale in the tradition of Go Ask Alice and Lucy in the Sky.
The author of this fictional diary began writing for a class assignment, but soon it became much more to him. As the star player of his high school football team, he faces a lot of pressure and expectation. Not to mention the secret that he’s harboring inside. The secret that could change everything.
And as David quickly learns, nothing stays secret forever.
His innermost thoughts and feelings are chronicled in the diary he left behind.
Editorial Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
2014-03-31Texas high school senior and quarterback David has a secret no one can discover. Forced by his English teacher to keep a journal in which he writes for 10 minutes, three times a week, David chronicles his innermost secret: his attraction to men. Over the course of a semester, he falls for Jon, the new kid from Chicago, who's a great singer and star of the swim team. He also writes of his relationship with Monica, his cheerleader girlfriend, who has a cool gay uncle who was also a football star. But most painful are his crumbling relationships with his beer-loving, homophobic father and his clingy (though straight) best friend, Tyler, who was up for QB until he was injured. Can David navigate this minefield and hang on to his scholarship offer from USC? Straining the conceit of the journal from the outset, this ill-conceived title "in the tradition of Go Ask Alice" equates being gay with being an alcoholic, a drug addict and an anorexic in its packaging alone. When gay teens need an example of pride, an "Anonymous" byline is a giant leap backward; and with a penultimate paragraph concluding "I feel like I don't have anything to hide," that "Anonymous" is ironic to a fault. Ten years (or more) ago this might have been an important book; but even with its positive close, today it is an embarrassment. (Fiction. 14-17)
School Library Journal
05/01/2014Gr 9 Up—Growing up in the Midwest where football is king six days a week and church reigns on the seventh, David has it all as a star quarterback. He has a pretty cheerleader girlfriend and a best friend, Tyler, who also plays football. Life is sweet for David, until he meets the new kid at school, Jon, and Tyler gets seriously injured, putting him out for the season. David's stardom rises with a streak of winning games that attract the attention of college scouts and media. Tyler becomes bitter, and David forms a friendship with Jon. Through his senior English class journal, David struggles with feelings for his new friend that he doesn't know how to interpret. Jon evokes something in him like no one else has before, including his girlfriend. The narrative gives readers realistic insight into the often heartbreaking and confusing world of sexual identity and acceptance. David knows that by accepting that he is in love with Jon, he will seriously damage his relationship with friends, family, and the greater community. A list of resources for LGBTQ youth is included. This compelling story is good for young adults who are quietly struggling with their own sexual identity and need to know they are not alone.—Mindy Whipple, West Jordan Library, UT
Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9781442489851
- Publisher:
- Simon Pulse
- Publication date:
- 06/03/2014
- Pages:
- 288
- Sales rank:
- 136,679
- Product dimensions:
- 5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x 1.50(d)
- Age Range:
- 14 - 17 Years
Read an Excerpt
The Book of David
First day of school, first period. Mrs. Harrison is making us all keep a journal for English Literature. We don’t have to turn it in. We just have to write in it for the first ten minutes of class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays—or the last ten minutes, whichever she decides that day. It’s weird to write with a pen in class. Usually I take notes on my laptop. My hand is already cramping up. The good news is that my handwriting is so atrocious, I’ll be the only person who can read it, so I don’t have to worry about anyone else deciphering this.
When Mrs. Harrison announced the journals, Tyler groaned like Coach was forcing him to run line drills. Mrs. Harrison told Tyler there’s something physiological that happens when you write with a pen or pencil on actual paper. He said, “Yeah, my brain shuts down because it’s so bored.” She just rolled her eyes and told him to “hush.” Tyler said he didn’t have anything to write about, and she told him the point is to not stop, to keep your hand moving across the page even if you think you don’t have anything to say. Then she held up a legal pad and a pen at the front of the class and pretended to write across it while she said the words out loud as an example:
“I have nothing to write about in my English class, but my crazy-ass teacher is making me keep a journal anyway. I hate her so much, I have smoke coming out of my ears, which I wish was coming out of the bong I can’t tell anyone I own because my name is Tyler Riggs and I’m a starter on the high school football team and if I get caught I will lose my scholarship to one of the forty-seven colleges that send scouts to Hillside High to watch me play. Plus, I will not get to start in the game on Friday night, and my pretty cheerleader girlfriend will think I am a loser.”
The whole class cracked up—even Tyler. Mrs. Harrison is our favorite teacher. She’s tough, but she says stuff like “crazy-ass” and makes jokes about pot, which she can get away with because she’s such a good teacher and because her husband is the music pastor at the big Baptist church most of us attend. She’s up front every Sunday, singing in the choir.
Actually, nobody knows who the starting lineup is for sure yet. List will be up this afternoon before we hit the locker room. Coach has been playing both me and Tyler at QB this summer. I’m glad two-a-day practices are over, but I’m nervous as hell about him posting the lineup. Tyler’s my best friend and has been since seventh grade. I know how much this means to him. We’ve been pushing each other since we were in junior high—lifting, running, making sure our grades are decent—and it all comes down to this: Only one of us can be starting QB our senior year.
Tyler’s got seven pounds on me, but I’ve got two inches on him. He can rush like a locomotive (takes three linemen to drag him down), but I can leap and scramble. Under pressure, he likes to tuck the ball and plow down the field like a tank. I fall back and look for the pass. It’s all up to Coach now.
Mrs. Harrison is right about the scouts, too. They’ve been hanging around practice all summer. Tyler told me last week that he’s ready to give a verbal commitment to Arkansas. I’ve been holding out for Oklahoma.
I just heard this new kid sitting next to me flip to his third page. He’s writing like his arm is robotic. His hair is wet and he’s wearing a T-shirt that says THE SMITHS. I wonder if that’s his last name.
Dang. Mrs. Harrison just told us to wrap it up. Can’t believe it’s been ten minutes already.
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