It’s a genre I am aware of, but not one I have spent much time reading. Looking For Something In Particular? 19th century abuse alcoholism alex bradley barry lyga billie holiday Black Panthers bloomsbury brian katcher carole boston weatherford child abuse China christopher isherwood civil rights movement communism crossdresser cynthia leitich smith dahlma llanos-figueroa diana wynne jones eating disorders elizabeth scott ellen wittlinger fandom floyd cooper francesca lia block friendships genderqueer GLBT reading challenge goth graphic novel grief introductions jazz ji-li jiang john marsden justine larbalestier kirby crow kristin cashore lady day laurie halse anderson m.Review: I imagine The Vast Fields of Ordinary to be typical of its genre. Hand It To: Nancy Pearl’s character, setting, and language readers gay teens and those who like to read about them suburban teens.

By the time Major Event hits, neither the reader nor Dade are sufficiently invested in its outcome for the emotional impact to resonate. The Meh: I can’t tell you the meh without ruining the plot for you, so suffice it to say that a major event toward the end of the novel was mistimed. Quite honestly, I haven’t ruled out writing him a drooling fangirl letter we’re trying to do similar things in our writing with the-suburbs-as-space, and I’d love to learn from him. The people he meets along the way are the people we suburbs-raised folks have known since birth: the nouveau riche, the never-riche, the pill-popping, the norm-obsessed… Burd knows his subject, and he brings it to life with skill and nuance. They are lumbering, preternatural things, and Dade stumbles through them in his quest to externally reify his inner self-awareness. The neighborhoods take on a life of their own. Nick Burd nails what it’s like to be a queer teen in the heteronormative suburbs. The Good: Nick Burd doesn’t describe, depict, or convey what it’s like to be a queer teen in the heteronormative suburbs. Based on this framework, you probably think you’ve read this story before. His last summer in town is looking bleak until he meets Alex, who is suspiciously attractive, and apparently interested in Dade. Dade is dating Pablo, if by “dating” he means “largely being ignored by and sometimes hooking up with.” His parents’ marriage has collapsed, his dad is never home, and his mom is propped up by white wine and pills.

The vast fields of ordinary