Tips on Having a Gay (Ex) Boyfriend Review

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(More customer reviews)Carrie Jones' "Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend" adds a twist to the YA breakup novel.
High school senior and singer-songwriter, Belle Philbrick, is dumped. And not in your usual way. Her boyfriend Dylan--Harvest King to Belle's Harvest Queen--announces that he's gay. And, needless to say, dumps her. "Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend" chronicles Belle's story in first-person narration over the course of the week that follows.
Why a week? In an inspired piece of character development, Belle doesn't want to turn into a Malory--a girl who whines about a boy for an extended period of time. Instead, she spends time with her best friend, Emily, and becomes closer to Dylan's best friend, Tom. And, because she lives in a small Maine town--her breakup and Dylan's announcement that he's gay remain their secret for about 24 hours before everyone knows everything. "Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend" is a tale not just of Belle's coming to terms with her gay (ex) boyfriend, but also the entire town's adjustment to Dylan's announcement.
Carrie Jones has created an admirable heroine in Belle. While her breakup with Dylan is understandably painful, social justice and her true love for Dylan win over her pain. As one of the leaders of her school's Amenesty International chapter, Belle can't overlook when other students call Dylan "fag" (or her, weirdly, "fag hag"). Belle is a compelling character, very real despite the fact that her situation may seem unusual. One doesn't expect your first and true love to be gay. Fortunately, Belle has a good friend to turn to--a level-headed girl named Emily. Here is a revealing conversation between the two girls:

"'You know. It's a big deal what's happening to you and Dylan and everything. That's hard to adjust to. You love him for, like, forever and then--boom that love's gone.'
I stare into Emily's blue eyes. She stares back with sympathy. I say as undramtically as possible. 'It was a lie, Em. It was just a fairy tale. You don't have to recover from a fairy tale.'
She exhales, plucks off the lens cap again and twirls it between her fingers. 'Yes, you do.'"
Carrie Jones has teenage speak--even the discourse of smart, self-aware teens like Emily and Belle--down pat. "Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend" is highly recommended for older teens. (There is some sexual content.) This is one smart book with one smart heroine.


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FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF NEED AND CAPTIVATE

Winner of the 2008 Maine Literary Award!

Dylan is Belle's true love-maybe even her soulmate. Until one day when Dylan drops the ultimate bomb: he's gay. Where, Belle wonders, does that leave her? And how will the rest of their small town deal with an openly gay Homecoming King? This beautifully written debut explores what happens when you are suddenly forced to see someone in a new light, and what that can teach you about yourself.

"Provocative . . . The author's poetic prose ably captures her heroine's emotional upheavals." -Publishers Weekly"It's good to have [Carrie Jones'] talent in the field." -KLIATT"Jones offers an atypical perspective of the coming-out story by legitimizing the love that is not lost, but changed, when young people grow up and apart." -School Library Journal"From the first sentence of Carrie Jones' novel I could tell that here was a bright new writer who was going to set the world of young adult letters af lame." -Kathi Appelt, award-winning poet and author

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