Flamer

Paperback, 368 pages

Published Aug. 31, 2020 by Henry Holt and Co. BYR Paperbacks.

ISBN:: 978-1-250-75614-5

(6 reviews)

I know I’m not gay. Gay boys like other boys. I hate boys. They’re mean, and scary, and they’re always destroying something or saying something dumb or both.

I hate that word. Gay. It makes me feel . . . unsafe.

It's the summer between middle school and high school, and Aiden Navarro is away at camp. Everyone's going through changes―but for Aiden, the stakes feel higher. As he navigates friendships, deals with bullies, and spends time with Elias (a boy he can't stop thinking about), he finds himself on a path of self-discovery and acceptance.

2 editions

Aaron reviewed Flamer by Mike Curato

5 stars

Continuing my year of reading banned books. Curato tells a fictional (yet based in his own experience) tale of the summer between middle school and high school. The main character, Aiden, has a series of conflicting emotions about his ethnicity, weight, and sexuality, in addition to family tensions and fears of the bullying that might await him in high school. As a Scouting leader, I was particularly interested in the role that Scouting played in this book. Tellingly, Scouting can be a real sanctuary for Aiden (as it appears to have been for Curato), but also the site of cruel bullying (ditto). That's heartbreaking, and a great illustration of the conflicts that are roiling Aiden's life. Curato writes that the book takes place in 1995, and the dialogue and actions all rang true.

I don't read a ton of graphic novels (although I seem to be reading more during my …

Continuing my year of reading banned books. Curato tells a fictional (yet based in his own experience) tale of the summer between middle school and high school. The main character, Aiden, has a series of conflicting emotions about his ethnicity, weight, and sexuality, in addition to family tensions and fears of the bullying that might await him in high school. As a Scouting leader, I was particularly interested in the role that Scouting played in this book. Tellingly, Scouting can be a real sanctuary for Aiden (as it appears to have been for Curato), but also the site of cruel bullying (ditto). That's heartbreaking, and a great illustration of the conflicts that are roiling Aiden's life. Curato writes that the book takes place in 1995, and the dialogue and actions all rang true.

I don't read a ton of graphic novels (although I seem to be reading more during my banned books sojourn), but for me this book was another great example of the marriage of topic and genre. Aiden's daydreams and fears, skillfully illustrated throughout, are enormously effective as drawings. Would they be as powerful if merely described in text? Maybe -- there are plenty of books that are text-only -- but Curato's drawings and effective use of color are really moving.

Terrific book -- stop banning it.