Absolutely, Positively Not...

LaRochelle creates a story here that is deeply rooted in the real coming out experience of a gay individual. He is able to convey the real painful emotions that a person feels when they are trying to make that choice to finally tell people. He also does a masterful job of conveying the fear that the character's parents has with their son being gay. In many instances the author takes what one would think and flips it around, such as the father being the most accepting of the main character.I recommend this book to anyone that is wanting to be challenged on their belief system on how gay people feel because LaRachelle gets it exactly right in this book.

David LaRochelle’s Absolutely, Positively Not… (Gay) is the most rollicking fun time I’ve had reading a book in quite some time. I would say it’s a cross between a Beverly Cleary book and a Woody Allen movie. Not your regular teen coming out book with heavy-handed angst, pain, and turmoil; this story is light-as-a-feather, genuinely funny, and as feel-good as it gets. It qualifies as a children’s book but is smart enough to captivate adults as well.

16-year-old Steven DeNarski is fiercely in denial about the fact that he’s gay. In order to “straighten” himself out, he checks out a book from the local library and attempts to follow its advice. He sits at the jocks’ table in the cafeteria, hoping their masculinity will show more rub off on him, tries aversion therapy – snapping his wrist with a rubber band whenever he thinks about boys, and goes on a dating spree taking out every girl in school who will agree to a date. When it all fails, he resigns to take a little peek out of the closet. When he tells his best friend Rachel, he thinks he might be gay, she squeals with delight telling him her parents had predicted to her a year ago that he was gay. When he worries that if her parents figured it out, might his own parents already know as well? She answers, “I’m sorry Steven, I don’t think your parents even know that Elton John is gay!” Rachel is gung-ho to yank him all the way out and make him the poster-boy of a gay-straight alliance club in school. When he comes out to his mother, she refuses to hear it, constantly changing the subject – it’s obvious where he inherited his capacity for denial. His father has a totally different reaction.

I was reminded of my childhood, reading Beverly Cleary and completely cracking up at the scrapes that Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby would get themselves into. I should explain that I am particularly in tune to humor derived from slightly neurotic situations – I think Woody Allen is 30,000 times funnier than Will Ferrell. LaRochelle’s wit constantly had me in stitches, often resulting in out and out laughing fits. I read comments from other readers who complained that the book was sit-commish – I only wish more sit-coms were this sophisticated and witty!

But underneath all the humor and outlandish situations, there is real heart. Steven’s struggle to fit in, and his embarrassment over his social gaffes will reel you in. He suffers a bit of disillusionment near the end as one perceived “ally” lets him down, but great hope when another ally is found where he least expects it. The end made my heart soar. Damn, what I wouldn’t have given to have a book like this when I was a teenager. show less

A gentle, humorous first person account of the coming out process by a sweet and funny high school junior, Steven Denarsky. Steven's process of self recognition is realistically portrayed, including the hilarious scene of surreptitious research on male teen sexuality. Steven's self-brainwashing campaign is comically tragic - he "absolutely, positively" can not be gay, because the prospect of ostracism and bullying by his peers is so frightening. This book is a wonderful candidate for a curriuclum unit on issues of sexual orientation and its social implications for hetero and homosexual teens. I think this would be excellent reading for homophobic boys to give them some insight into the lives of their victims.

When Steven develops a crush on a male teacher, he assumes it must be something else-he is “Absolutely, Positively Not” gay…or is he? David LaRochelle’s protagonist provides funny and poignant view of the confusion and loneliness that can affect gay teens, without serving as a caricature. Although this newly-discovered sexuality does weigh on Steven’s mind for the majority of the novel, it is not the be-all-end-all of his actions or interactions with other characters. Absolutely, Positively Not…’s high school setting and themes of loneliness, questioning, belonging, and the urge for independence make this novel relatable to many teens, gay or straight, and LaRochelle’s humorous style will keep them hooked to the last show more page. Highly recommended for any collection, in school or public libraries. show less

I added this book to my reading list on the basis of an article that appeared on "The Huffington Post." The article detailed the top LGBT YA books and while I appreciated the sensitive manner in which LaRochelle conveyed this important story, I find this distinction a bit dubious when considering the literary merits of this novel. I thought its tone was a bit too didactic, with distant characters and plot points far too awkward to be meaningful for most teens.

I'm not really sure how to describe it. It was funny and a little sad. I felt so bad for Stephen for being so clueless as to his own mind and for trying so hard to prove that he wasn't what he was. I suppose what makes it sad is that people struggle with this kind of thing everyday.

I wanted to smack his best friend Rachel because whether or not you knew before he did, and even though you were supporrive, you don't out anyone. I don't care if her family had already figured it out, it was up to Stephen to tell them he's gay. And his parents *sigh* they were so clueless, but in the end they were a good mom and dad. I think the best part was poor Stephen trying every idiotic thing he could to prove he wasn't gay.

All-in-all it was a good read.

Aside from the fact that I can't really relate to the story of a teenage boy coming to terms with the fact that he's gay, I really enjoyed this book. LaRochelle divides the story about equally between Steven's growing realization that he's gay and his process of coming out to his friends and family. Although the first half of the book became a bit tiresome after a while, the second half of the book more than made up for it. LaRochelle writes Steven's coming out scenes with humor and sensitivity.