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Award-winning author and artist Mike Curato draws on his own experiences in Flamer, his debut graphic novel, telling a difficult story with humor, compassion, and love. 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.
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- I read this pretty fast for book club, it was okay, felt very dated / semi-autobiographical- did this not being my story make it feel like it had less impact?
- the ‘it all feels like too much’ element felt so young and overdramatic - 16 year old me would have eaten this up with a spoon, the jaded 33 year old me was rolling my eyes instead of taking this seriously
- it makes me hopeful that kids nowadays and in the next 15 years will be better than these kids portrayed in the book, and adults too
- Ultimately this is an important story but not super impactful on me, and I fear is very forgettable
- I did not care for the pencil simplistic art
- I do remember wanting desperately to fit in and getting teased for being fat... but I never contemplated suicide, questioned my sexuality or felt lost in the way Aiden did. I'm glad there are people who have really resonated with the book
- the choice of a 1995 setting when the book was published in 2020 makes it feel so much more autobiographical and personal to the author
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