Jack

Very enjoyable coming of age novel, about tolerance, respect for your parents, divorce, and homosexuality. And despite the heavy themes its treated with such lightness of touch that it is a very pleasant experience.

I enjoyed this book. Jack is a sweetly realistic young man. Watching him learn and grasp the lessons of adulthood surrounded by a loving and flawed supportive "family" makes for a pleasant few hours. The book is a little dated (1989) in the character's reaction to Jack's dad's gayness, but probably not as much as I'd like to believe.

I read this novel after reading Homes's End of Alice. This novel is entirely a different animal but no less provocative. Jack, the main character, discovers one day that his father is gay. This is a journey of a boy on the cusp of adulthood and how he deals with his gay father.

As the title suggests, this is a story of Jack and his life, living with his mother and mother's new partner Michael, coming to terms to his father's coming out as gay and getting his head around the idea that his father's flatmate is in actual fact a boyfriend, as well as the usual teenager concerns of friends, crushes, sports, wanting to learn to drive and all that. Enjoyable.

A few years ago Jack's parents divorced. Now, just before his 16th birthday, Jack learns that his dad is Gay. Jack reels with confusion, anger, and embarrassment,.. His best friend tells others at school and someone writes "faggot" on Jack's locker. Soon Jack will learn that his friends' families lives aren't as simple and perfect as he long believed. And his family will heal, even as it changes. Jack finally realizes that he is not his parents or his friends; his life is his own to shape.