Bill Konigsberg

Really loved this author's voice and storytelling style. Rafe has been out of the closet and comfortable with his sexuality for years, but is sick of being "the gay kid" at school, so he goes to boarding school across the country and neglects to mention that one part of who he is. Then he meets Ben, who turns into an amazing friend and maybe something more?

I loved the way this examined all sorts of friendships, the relationships you can have with your parents (for good and bad) and the show more different experience coming out and coming to terms with who you really are is for each individual. I really loved watching Rafe experiencing that firsthand from the perspective of someone who grew up completely comfortable and safe in the knowledge he was loved and would be accepted, and is now thrust into an environment that isn't quite as rosy. An awesome read and now I'm on to the next! 5/5 stars. show less

If I had been reading this for the love story, I would've been highly satisfied, even given the way it ends. But I wasn't really reading this for the love story: I was reading it for Rafe's journey of identity. And that didn't quite...arrive.

Throughout the book, Rafe's writing teacher keeps urging him to stop performing in his writing, to treat the writing as a conversation and an exploration, not a monologue. And that's kind of how I felt about Rafe's story by the end of the book. He has a show more nice, tidy realization about what seems to be a very complex issue. And while I know that Rafe might truly feel it's a nice, tidy issue, I was hoping for more.

More perspectives, more struggle, more depth. More conversations, more compassion, more common ground. I'm doubtless looking in the wrong place; this is a YA novel, after all. But fiction has such power when it comes to exploring others' points of view, and I was hoping this book would offer an opportunity to see loneliness and defining oneself from an angle I hadn't explored before.

I wanted to recognize my own journey to self and self-confidence in Rafe's, but I couldn't. And that wasn't because he's gay and I'm not; it's because mine still continues today, and Rafe already appears to have his sorted out. And the fact that he seems completely unaware of all the labels he sticks on other people, pre-determined as Good and Bad irrespective of the individual (e.g., only nuns in Boulder could be so accepting of gay people), just left me feeling even more alienated from his experience.

The humility and honesty and uncertainty with which Rafe's love story concludes is much more what I'd hoped to find in his journey of identity. show less

This is a different take on the narrative of a gay teenager who goes away from home to a Private Boys Boarding School. Rafe, a high school junior from Boulder, Colorado, has been out and proud since he was in the eighth grade as the novel relates his journey. He's fortunate in that he comes from a loving family and lives in an accepting town, so he's never had to deal with slurs or bullying because of his sexuality. However, he's recently begun to believe that many around him just view him show more as just a gay person, rather than as a unique individual with many other facets to his character. As a result, when he transfers from a public high school in Boulder to a private boarding school in Massachusetts — an all-boys school, no less – he decides to keep his sexuality hidden from his new peers.

Rafe's plan, predictably, does not turn out as he had hoped. While he realizes that separating himself from his gay identity opens up a new social world for him, he also discovers that repressing such a vital part of himself comes at a cost. In the end, he'll have to navigate the turbulent waters of honesty, truth, desire, and self-awareness – a journey made more difficult by his growing attraction to Ben, one of his classmates.

The characters are lively and current, offering realistic depictions of adolescent relationships, a few truly romantic moments, serious consideration of adolescent issues, and a healthy dose of humor. A unique aspect of the story that I found fascinating was the interaction between Rafe and his writing teacher presented through writing exercises interpolated throughout the narrative. These provided additional details about Rafe's background and his personality; however the highlight of the novel was the reversal by the main character of his role as an out gay and the repercussions for both himself and others that result from his actions. That this was handled in a believable way was what I found to be the best aspect of what might have been just an average story.

Openly Straight, with its convoluted narrative and a complicated finish, is a gripping and profoundly truthful work that you won't want to put down. This is the kind of well-written book that spoils me as a reader. I have less patience with books that do not meet the standard set by this one with its engaging story about coming of age as a gay boy. show less

The premise of this book was very interesting to me. Rafe's feels his existence in Boulder is reduced to the role of gay guy, and wants a chance to explore his identity beyond that. To accomplish this task, he enrolls in an all-boys school is Massachusetts, and decides he simply won't officially come out. However, he quickly falls into out-right lying about having a girlfriend and insinuating an attraction to women, so his plan to keep sexuality to the background backfires. In doing this show more he develops a deep friendship with Ben, a fellow member of the soccer team he joins, and as their friendship deepens feelings start to develop.
I really liked the development of Ben's and Rafe's relationship. It was very sweet and it was nice to see how they could discuss deep topics with each other. Rafe's mixed up feelings regarding how their friendship could continue if he admitted to it, provided an additional level of conflict. It also encapsulated how quickly Rafe's decision to "be straight" had snowballed. I also felt Rafe was an accurate teenage character. He was judgmental, and there was this constant, subconscious, sorting of everyone into groups that I felt was very accurate to the teen experience for a lot of people (and admittedly, me).
The ending didn't do it for me though. By the end Rafe "realizes" pretending to be straight was not good and comes out to the whole school. He joins their GSA, and it honestly seems like he will be quitting soccer. It honestly felt like it took the concept of Rafe exploring his identity beyond the label of "gay" and returned us to that being the most important thing. To the degree that another character, Jeff, says he understands because he is more than just a gay guy and there are other facets to his personality and he gets shut down. Throughout the whole book you have Rafe's support system saying that not being openly gay is like shutting down an important part of himself, and reacting almost with anger over his decision, when I think it is very valid for any queer kid to want/wish that their identity didn't have to be so charged. Not only that, it felt like it perpetuated the idea that your sexuality is the most important label, and not acknowledging it makes you inherently bad. It left me with a bad taste in my mouth. show less