Michael Willhoite

Without doubt this short story is well written and fascinating, but it’s a dark fascination; in a near future, you can buy clones of your favourite “dead” actors as sex toy. Brad, a gay widower, decides the best way to heal from the broken heart due to his partner’s death is to satisfy his teenager crush for James Dean, and so that is his gift to himself. The clone is perfect, everything Brad was hoping and then more, but of course people around him are jealous of his new toy, and show more they will do everything to break his bubble.

There is really nothing in the few pages of this story that could lead the reader to imagine the ending, but in a way, I was not surprised about it. Maybe it’s the writing style, sexy but dry, for sure not sweet; or maybe it’s a “silent” tone, it was like while I was reading, a sad tune was playing in the background. In a way or the other, if you are a tender heart, be careful of this author, it’s for sure not for the ordinary romance reader. But if you want your story with a bite, even if a bittersweet bit, than Michael Willhoite is one author to consider.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004CYEXA8/?tag=elimyrevandra-20 show less

In my opinion, this is a great book. I feel this way mainly because of the illustrations and the point of view from which the story is told. I feel that the illustrations made the wording on the pages come alive. Being that each page only had a few words on it, the pictures helped me to visualize what the little boy was going through when his parents got divorced, and the environment in which he lived with his father. In addition, the illustrations helped me to understand that homosexuals show more live just as ordinary a lifestyle as do heterosexuals. I feel the story being told in first person is also crucial to its profound meaning. I was able to see how the boy felt about Frank, and him living with his father, from his point of view. Often, the voices of children who live with homosexuals are rarely heard, so I felt it to be significant that the voice of the little boy in this story was. The message of this story is gay acceptance. It is important for adults and children to embrace the many different shades the term “love” appears in. show less

I like this book because it talks about a difficult or confusing topic for children. This book is about a little boy's parents getting divorced and his dad then living with a man. I think the illustrations in this book are realistic and help the reader better understand the story. "Now theres somebody new at Daddy's house. Daddy and his roommate Frank live together." I like this line from the book because it shows how children might perceive two men living together originally. The book then show more goes on to explain that they are gay. The story is told in first person by the little boy, which I think is helpful to the reader. It helps the reader better understand and possibly connect to the story. When the little boy finds out that his dad is gay, he immediately accepts it without hesitation, which I think is extremely important. Homosexuality is a very sensitive subject and I believe it is very important to come off positive, especially in a children's picture book. "Being gay is just one more kind of love and love is the best kind of happiness." I absolutely love this quote and think it is a perfect example to be teaching children. The part of the book that I do not like is how the mother is portrayed in the text and illustrations. She comes off angry and annoyed. I believe this is inappropriate. This book demonstrates an important topic for all children to learn and understand and promotes acceptance. show less

The young boy in this story speaks about his parent’s divorce. He then realizes that his father and his male roommate do everything together. They take part in activities that are familiar to all other kinds of families. His father seems happy and the young boy sees that his father’s roommate is a lot like his own father. He sees that his father is happy and in love, and therefore he is happy.

This is a great way to introduce non-traditional families. There are more and more children show more with same sex parents andit is often underrepresented in children's books. This book will help students that belong to this community see themselves in the books.

Realistic Fiction
Reading Level: Primary Readers show less