Year in Review: Top 10 & Updates

So, even though I am still computer-less and fancy free, I have been hard at work bringing you something I know you've all been on the edge of your seats for. Since it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, you probably guessed it's time for my annual: Top 10 YA Books of 2011 list. It has become an annual tradition since I did an okay version last year and my definitively awesome list in 2009. This was in large part due to teachers requesting fiction titles in list form when I worked in the Bronx, especially titles I booktalked when I visited their schools. Since I don't do that any more, it's emerged more as a way to rank titles I review for School Library Journal and feature titles that I read for non-review purposes (this year, that included The Doomsday Box which I got from LibraryThing and A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie from a teacher I knew from the Bronx).

Best Scene in Anything Ever

There are three flowers in a vase...

The first flower is yellow.

Holiday Break

My computer broke the day before yesterday. I'm angry like Ramona Flowers.

Suffice it to say, there will be a lack of updates for the foreseeable future.

Moving on Up

Come hell or high water, I'm going to be moving at some point next year. As a result, I've been going through lots of stuff in my apartment and putting them, both mentally and physically in the 'keep/not keep' piles. Books are always the first thing I do this with, and as a result, I've either been donating my books to the library or moving them to a work shelf for safe keeping. So this is what I have left-

Pretty soon, they won't even be there. I'll be moving at least 3 or 4 before the Christmas break, and one of those books is an X-Mas present for my dad. Pretty eclectic group left, huh?

Anyway, I'm both sad and excited about it. SO WHY NOT BLOG IT!?

Fast as a Kid Flash

From Teen Titans #2. Art by Brett Booth.

Graphic Novels Project Update

So... I have some good news!


I would have posted this yesterday, but I was a good kid and actually updated the blog then. And who wants two entries from me on the same day? No one, that's who. But I'm happy to report ::drumroll please:: There's is finally a title, ISBN, and release date for the graphic novel encyclopedia I spent a good portion of my life writing! Remember me complaining? Yay!!

<--- is one possible cover for it.

Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: HEROES & SUPERHEROES (978-1-58765-865-5) is the name and it retails for a whooping $295.00. You may not want to buy this one yourself, kids. But do encourage your local library to buy it, especially if it's an academic library with an art program. The release date says April, but many list it as 3/25/12.

Gobble Gobble

Again, I am guilty for not really updating. But there's not a lot to say. I'm continuing to read Past Continuous ... and I'm enjoying it. It's weird. The story is very sci-fi and not really plausible, but the protagonist is kind of a fun guy to read. I can relate to him, and he's kind of an ass, yet he's still somehow cool at the same time. There's pretty hard for an author to pull off in a young adult book, in my humble opinion.

I still have to read Peter David's Fallen Angel book I bought at NYCC. I'm wondering what to bring home for reading. I may do Laura Bennett's book, which I still have yet to read, and maybe finally will when I'm on the bus headed back to New Hampshire in a couple of weeks. Of course, I'm defeating the entire idea behind owning a nook. That fact is supposed to prevent me from bringing a bunch of books home with me. But what's wrong with two or three... right!?

Anyway, I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. I'm planning a trip to the comic store soon, so hopefully I'll be able to post some covers of things I'm reading.

What's Been Going On

I know it seems like I've been Absent Abby for the past few weeks, but I have been up to stuff:

I'm finally reading a new book (pictured right). I finished the first chapter and it's weird.

Not blogging here? 'cause I just wrote a blog for work. Sadly, it takes priority.

I've also been yelping up a storm, basically putting a new review up every day.

Also, if you miss me, I have not forsaken my Twitter account, which I update often.

I was writing a post about my experiences at the New York Comic Con, but it turned really negative really fast. I think I might just skip talking about it after all.

I haven't really gone out and bought any comics, either. I'm still reading Batgirl, Teen Titans, and Superboy from the New 52 round, but I might drop Superboy soon. Buffy has got her groove back, and X-Factor still remains my favorite. Wolverine and the X-Men actually isn't that bad, either. I'll post next time I buy stuff.

Scott Summers vs. a dinosaur

Cyclops is a babe. I bet he works out. (art by Whilce Portacio)

From a Marvel One-Shot Uncanny X-Men: The Heroic Age, Sept. 2010.

Comic Book Binge: NYCC

Coming Soon: NYCC Updates

So the New York Comic Con has came and went, and there has been very little in the way of updates on this here blog. Not to worry! I will be giving you some useless information soon, a NYCC summary, and even a Comic Book Buying Binge NYCC edition. I actually picked up a lot less comics than you might think at um, er... an entire convention that was supposed to be about comic books. It turns out? There's a lot of other non-comic related entities there now, but we'll get to that when we get to that.

Hopefully I'll have some time in November to update a few regular features. I have a new Fallen Angel TB from Peter David which I can do an 'In Review' segment for, and I'll probably be picking up a few more of the DC titles that have been rebooted. I think, out of all of them, Batgirl has become my favorite title. I've getting a lot of flak from some lady friends of mine who are sad I'm not more into Batwoman, though. I'm sad, too. But I'm really not in a rush to read it. Sometimes you just have to wait for trades.

Just wanted to let y'all now... I haven't forgotten to update! It's just been hectic lately. So I promise tons of fun stuff soon.

IN REVIEW: Astonishing X-Men / Ghost Box

It's been a super long time since I did one of my "In Review" blogs for a graphic novel title (not really, since really I just make sure they more official sounding when I blog them on the library's site proper). Usually, official library blogs tend to be uber positive and I gush over just how much I really enjoyed reading a particular trade. But... always being happy with what you read? That's unrealistic. You can't like everything. And while I didn't hate Warren Ellis' take on Astonishing X-Men titled "Ghost Box" - I wasn't the biggest fan of it, either.

Following Joss Whedon's run on an immediate Eisner-award winning book must have been hard. Especially since people loved Whedon's X-Men so much. I enjoyed the fusion of taking two things I love - things written by Joss Whedon and X-Men comic books, and having them combined, but Whedon had a lot of problems when it came to writing the overall storyarcs. Both the Cassandra Nova and ultimate Ord homeplanet storylines made little sense, and while he returned Kitty Pryde to regular X-Men stories for the first time in years, he also effectively removed her by chucking her into the infinite vastness of space. Way to be cool and suck all at the same time.

Going Supernova: The Starfire Scandal

I feel the need to comment on the recent DC Comics scandal grasping the interwebs right now, specifically concerning the first issue of Red Hood and the Outlaws. While I haven't read the book yet, it's written by Scott Lobdell, who I've gone on record as defending as a good writer on this here blog. Many people are challenging such a thing with the way that this book is being written, specifically with the depiction of former Teen Titans' member Starfire as an amnesiac sexpot who, well... has sex. And seems nonchalant about it during the issue, let's say.

I think that all this talk is silly.

Comic Book Binge Buying #2

Gaming Day + General Updates

As September draws to a close, I find myself much less busy than I was over the summer. I am no longer blogging every week for work (I actually probably won't ever promise to do that again, in retrospect) and now that I'm no longer working for Kirkus, I'm patiently seeing if the fall season brings me any new review books from School Library Journal. At home, I'm still finishing up 'Breadcrumbs' - I've been taking my time with it, because... well, it's just a fantastic book.

At work, I'll be gearing up for National Gaming Day soon. This is the annual initiative of the ALA where we go pro-board and pro-video games. I've learned some things from last year: my event will be four hours instead of six, focusing on the hours when it got especially busy. We're also doing it exclusively in the afternoon, since no one really came in during the morning. I'm excited for it. I plan on playing a bunch of a Mortal Kombat vs. the DC Universe that day.

Not a lot to report... it's sad that when I actually have time to blog, I don't have much to blog about. Check my Goodreads profile for books I'm reading/read, as I've been really good about updating it lately. When October is over, the Children's Book List for 2011 should be completed, so I don't even know what I plan on doing with myself then.

Comic Book Binge Buying #1

Sucker for a 'Dark Fairy Tale' ...

I have, once again, accept the guilt of all guilts for not updating. Since I'm writing to you finally, it's safe to assume (and you'd be correct!) that I've taken my semi-regular 'reading break' and I don't currently have any review books pending. After a kind of review-heavy summer, I have to say... that's kind of welcome.

I did bring home a book from work, though. You never know when you might start to get the reading itch, and I have quite a bit of lag time during a morning of boring laundry tomorrow. 'Breadcrumbs' by Anne Ursu won 'book that peeked my interest the most' by a landslide at our last children's book list pow-wow. Even though we're set to talk about nonfiction at this Monday's meeting, the book was described as sort of a darker version of a modern fairy tale ... and I do love it whenever anyone describes a book for kids that way. The cover is also ominous. It tells you nothing. There's something about that that makes it too wicked for me not to read the book. If you're still with me, yeah... I'm weird.

It's also worth noting that I'm no longer currently writing for Kirkus Reviews. The 'new' section of the magazine I've been contributing to - Lifestyle - was started in February, but wasn't really bringing in advertising revenue and I guess wasn't generating the buzz they thought it would in general, so Kirkus decided to shut it down. I've had a mixed reaction to this news, but it's worth noting that overall, my experience working for Kirkus has been an overall positive one. I'll miss little post-its from Karen, my editor, and wouldn't rule out working for the publication at some future date. A big thank you to my librarian friend Laura; if it wasn't for her, I never would have known about nor written for Kirkus in the first place.

I did spend $20.98 on comics this week, and bought a few of the early DC 'reboot' titles. You might get some blogs (or lets be real, a single blog) on that sometime soon.

What Do *I* Know about Kids' Books?

Over Labor Day weekend, I got the chance to catch with my friend Rose, the Librarian. Die-hard followers of my blog may remember her from my adventure to Washington D.C. last summer when I went to the ALA conference. Rose is one of the members of the Stonewall Book Awards, where she reads a variety of material that is GLBTQ related. Her and other committee members then debate amongst themselves over which book is the best. It can be immensely frustrating (there's A LOT of books), but it can also be a lot of fun and ultimately rewarding. Prior to Rose joining, I was on the committee for an extremely brief time and was a member of the committee for the 2010 Award Winners List. I took over the position from someone else, so I always feel iffy talking 'bout it.

My Lack of 'Required Reading'

So, over the weekend, I finished reading Eden Lake by Patrick Carman. It was pretty good. Suspenseful. While some elements of the story didn't work for me at all, I was generally interested in the twisty ending. It turned a mostly realistic-type book into an undeniably supernatural one. It's due out in November and will include some sort of companion phone app. I'm sure if I had a smart phone, I'd probably spend hours playing with it. Nowhere did it mention 'free' - so my red flag of 'this probably costs money' was blinking every time I read that.

Since this is a week before September, which I still can't fully believe (I mean, where did the summer go!?), I still haven't gotten a new book/reading assignment from Kirkus. This puts me in the odd position of not having anything I have to read for review purposes. While this might seem like a blessing since I can finally read what I want, it turns out that... meh. I don't really have time to start a new book (since I'll probably get a new one next week anyway) and it's actually pretty nice to have a break. I don't feel like I have to be reading, which is something I both like and dread in pretty equal measure.

Stop Pressing the 'Reboot' Button

This is kind of an open letter to both Marvel and DC Comics. It can be summed up in just one line.

STOP REBOOTING SUPERHERO COMICS!

That's really the end. But it's my blog and my soapbox, so I guess I'll rant a little bit about it here. DC is set to reboot their continuity again ENTIRELY - while some of the changes are understandable, one look at the Teen Titans (which hasn't had a steadfast lineup since they first -you guessed it- REBOOTED a couple of years ago) will show you that some of the changes are dramatic. Is that supposed to be Robin there? Because he JUST GOT A NEW COSTUME LAST YEAR! Okay, I'm going to stop typing in all caps now. Gail Simone is no longer writing Birds of Prey, which was the only DC title I was buying on a regular basis for the past year. I'll guess I'll stop that now. Granted, the new art, seeming new 'tough' direction (Superboy no longer has sleeves, so I stand by my statement), and well, lots of red do grab my eye... but I was reading Titans for awhile two years ago and it just ended up disappointing me. Should I really set myself up for failure again?

Karen Green [with Envy]

Y'all know I like to toot my own own horn. But I can also accept when a blog is just better than mine. And Karen Green's blog, Comic Adventures in Academia, is much, much better than anything I write here. Karen works at Columbia University, and I've had the chance to meet her and speak on stage with her twice (at the New York Comic Con and Book Expo America, respectively).


Karen's latest blog, Four Nights in the Museum, highlights not only a great graphic work that deserves attention, but showcases Karen's amazing talents as a writer. I love reading anything she comes out with because hey, let's face it... she's like waaaay smarter than I am.

Adult Books Can be Fun, too

I don't often talk a lot about the books I read for Kirkus Reviews. I do like to say I review for them since I've picked up the gig. It might have to do with how they pay me, and I tend to like people who do that. But I don't review youth fiction titles for them, which in the past has been more of my niche. I've moved on to the world of adult nonfiction, and the section I write for - 'Lifestyles' - tends to deal with more 'popular topics' like parenting, philosophy, social media, and college acceptance.

Not all of the books I've read have been bad. Granted, some have been stinkers... but nonfiction can be kind of stuffy regardless of how well written it is or it isn't most of them time. A rare exception is the book I'm reading now titled Raised by the Church. The novel recounts Edward Rohs' experience growing up in the 1950s and 1960s in NYC in a series of Catholic orphanages. He also spent part of the time in Long Island. I've always wanted to read more about New York City seeing as how I live here now, but don't often find the excuse.

Not only does Edward's story get told, but he also gives a brief historical overview of everything from the number of and reasons why there were so many orphans in the early twentieth century to a comprehensive background of the order of nuns who were primarily responsible for raising him. It might be the Catholic schoolboy in me, but his story is just hard to put down. I actually almost missed my stop on the subway today reading it... and I'm not even halfway done. It comes out in a few months, but I definitely recommend reading it.

There will also be a book release party for the title in NYC during November.

It's 'Weird Science' All Over Again...

So, after sucking it up and finally staying up late to get my reading on, I finally feel a little bit better about my workload. I am currently reading ONE book (at the start of the week, it was 3). This one had a the latest of all the review deadlines - until August 1st - so I really got to make sure I get this one done in a short amount of time. I was initially worried when I read the description...

It's about two boys building a robot. A girl robot. With all the dumb jokes you can imagine.

Finally reading the book? It's not as bad as I thought. In fact, it's surprisingly readable. It's a lot like "Swim the Fly" in two ways - one, boys are going to primarily like it and two, it fits nicely into that 10-13 age range for kids when I never know what to suggest for them to read. Fifty pages in, they've already found the robot (in one father's lab, naturally) and the she-bot has escaped their house to go run amok.

Bonus points on how they download their Facebook interests into the robot's hard drive.

There's a nice little website for the book here. But really... did the author Paul E. Watson see Weird Science? Or that episode of 'Batman Beyond' that Shiri Appleby did a voice for? This idea has been done for. I'm still going to read his book, and probably give it a nicer review than it deserves. But... c'mon. REALLY!?

Your Tweets R Diff. Than My Tweets

I'm reading this book for Kirkus Reviews this month, and had to take a time out to say... I'm actually really enjoying it. Not necessarily because it's well written; I'm going to have to read a lot more to determine that, but really because... I am their exact intended audience. This book is written for people who use Twitter for their organization. I use it to represent my library. The author works for Twitter and is pointing out things I could improve on, and they are things I know I should be doing better.

They are also using a lot of case studies, but made the point that "you might not be using Twitter like everyone else is using Twitter" - or words pretty much to that effect. I don't mean to be the party poop, but... why do people even write books on Twitter then? If every situation is different, and there's no real framework to follow ... is writing about social media even helpful? Instead of helping me improve my best practices on the damn website, these are the thoughts this book is giving me write now.

I also should not write blogs at just before 5:00 AM. At least I'm reading.

Sizzlin' Smokin' Summer

Sorry for the lack of updates, kids.

I've been busy at work attempting to blog at least once a week. While I think this makes the quality of my blogs take a little bit of a nosedive, it has been kind of fun to set this up as sort of a weekly challenge for myself. I'm planning on doing keeping pace with this until the end of August. That's when I'll be done with my weekly blog "series." The best part? The background research is watching old television shows.

I have also been busy reviewing books like a MoFo. This includes the rather lazy post a few weeks ago where I just up some covers of books I was in the process of reviewing. I've gotten through those, and now have two new ones from School Library Journal (including the one who's cover you are seeing). I can't see "Geek Wisdom" is one of my favorite books, but it does have nerdy footnotes at the bottom of every page, and there was one on Spider-Man I enjoyed.

Sadly, with my review duties at Kirkus and my attempts to finish up work on the Salem Press/EBSCO "Graphic Novels" reference project (I'm writing about WONDER WOMAN this time, which is actually a lot more fun than it probably sounds) I have kind of a busy summer in store for myself. That means this blog? Going to get neglected. Hopefully in the fall (or if I just find myself with oodles of time), I'll get back to updating on a regular basis. I want to be better, I swear. Maybe. Probably.

Upcoming June Review Books

"Baby It's You" part 2

I will start off by saying my Broadway experience is pretty limited.

I think in high school, when I came to New York City for the very first time, I saw Les Misérables. But it was so long ago I can't tell you where it was and if it was on or off that famous NYC street. When I actually moved to New York, and started volunteering at pretty gay library, really the only fringe benefit was being able to go to Shrek: The Musical for free. And it didn't suck. That's saying something... I mean, I kind of expected it to. My dad took me to see West Side Story during one of his visits, mainly because the first time he came to see me kept singing the music from it. When I saw it advertised, I figured we needed to see the show and he needed to pay.

In the last six months, my theater experience has expanded considerably. With my friend Jen, I saw both parts of Angels in America. Then I got to see Catch Me If You Can (I have a shameless crush on this guy) a few weeks later in the first Broadway show I actually paid for. Both were really, really good. It's hard to compare shows to one another because, like snowflakes, they really are all different. Shrek and Catch Me were both based on respective movies and included original music, while Angels was a straight dramatic piece. Baby It's You! is unique because unlike all the other shows I've seen, it was based in actual music that came out during a specific time period. I'll admit: I knew little music used in the show.

Shout Outs aka 'The Shamless Plugs'

I was finally timely in both my comic purchasing and reading this month, allowing me to achieve my long goal of actually contributing this week to the 'This Week in Panels' section of the 4thletter! blog. Y'all should be following, kids. I've been a fan for awhile now, especially Gavok, whose love of 'What If' comics and Spider-Man villain Venom rivals (if not exceeds) me own. Thanks for mentioning my blog, Gavok. You rock.

Also, head on over to Graphic Novel Reporter (which you should be checking at least weekly anyway) 'cause my ol' pal John posted the list of Graphic Novels both 'hot' and 'new' that I selected (along with many other great people, including Karen Green from comiXology blogging fame) for Book Expo America 2011 this past Wednesday. This list is amazing, and will aid not only libraries with upcoming collection development decisions to make, but also many comic readers who are looking for a good story.

The Digital Comics Divide

So I have been pretty quiet when it comes to the topic of digital comics.

I was kind of blissfully ignorant on the topic until last year's NYCC, when I went to a few different presentations concerning them. I got to hear from one of the guys who runs ComiXology, a pretty cool website... if you have an iSomething or other. This website comes up pretty consistantly when you are searching for or reading about digital comics. Do you know what I take from that? There ain't a whole lot of anything else right now. So, I will be talking a little bit about them.

Jim Lee, who wields some kind of digital marketing power at DC Comics as well as drawing insanely cool superheroes, was quick to state that DC limits the platforms people can download on. They were planning on opening some sort of digital comics store (which I believe is already up) and, in addition to ComiXology and some sort of PSP compatibility, that's it. Marvel, on the flipside, is trying to make their comics available where ever they can. Both companies, as well as all the comic contenders, are on ComiXology. New titles are added, while back issues (referred to as "backlist titles" often) are being continually added every week.

As a comics enthusiast, I support what DC Comics is doing. I like the idea that they sort of can do damage control when it comes to, "Why isn't this DOWNLOADING!?" kind of questions. This is especially relevant if most of the comics in digital format will be purchased by their company directly. They know where their comics are, so they can answer questions about them pretty easily. As a librarian, I wholeheartedly appreciate what Marvel is doing 'cause, let's face it... I was able to get digital comics added to my library's Overdrive offerings because they are available there. There aren't even that many to choose from, but some is better than none. And DC? I don't even have the option to ASK for comics on Overdrive with those guys.

I am also not the type of person to embrace every new technology as it comes out. I'm not waiting in line for a new iPhone release and have no plans to buy an iPad or any of the similar slate-esque technologies. Honestly, I think it's kind of a waste of money with how often these things are updated and how trendy that they become. I guess I'm more old school when it comes to that type of stuff. I do have a B&N nook, but only because the library gave me one after I won a raffle. I doubt I would have spent money on it by my own volition. My own views of technology aside, I am really worried about comics becoming an entirely digital medium. Will the future of comics make them only available to digitally literate kids? Not everyone has a computer, man.

Have a I read digital comics? Yes. Did I enjoy it as much as in print? Hell to the no.

If you are a comic fan, and you are not having the same reaction as me, then... I don't really know what to tell you. From what I read, which is mostly on blogs and from tech-minded people, they keep talking about how awesome digital comics are. I feel like that's a pretty biased group. I should also admit I'm not that much of a webcomic guy, either. From what I hear, I'm kind of missing out. That's okay. I also don't buy every comic when I buy my monthly titles, either. In fact, I'm only buying two books on a regular basis right now. I'd prefer these not to be digital, either.

Maybe I am just stuck in the past... but if you ask a lot of comic writers and artists especially, I don't really think they necessarily are comfortable with the medium being interpreted digitally. I can already get a general plot synopsis for books as far late summer... haven't we already embraced the internet a little too much?

Iron Fist

This is from Heroes for Hire #1 in the late 90s, after the whole Onslaught crossover took place. Iron Fist is kind of a crappy superhero; if you couldn't already guess, he can make his "fist like iron" by focusing his chi through it. He's sort of a generic ninja dude. BUT... his real name- Daniel Rand- is kind of cool, and I think he's visually awesome.

Exodus

Wolverine vs. Archangel

This little gem is from Uncanny X-Men #272. Jim Lee is on pencils here, and it's his art that really made Wolverine famous. Look at him! He looks awesome! I'm slightly afraid, but who wouldn't be of a short hairy man with unbreakable claws? This took place during the X-Tinction Agenda crossover.

"Baby It's You!" part 1

So, because I'm such a good friend, I applied for a special Bloggers' Night celebration for a musical my friend Jen wants to go see. What is a Bloggers' Night? Well... I actually have no idea. But you can bet your booty I'm going to go... and then blog about it. Anyway, as a preview of said night... here's a little YouTube preview of the show I'm going to see tomorrow night (Did I mention it's for Free!? ::insert jealousy here::)

The OTHER Name for Murder

Check out this classic panel from X-Force #29. This is my man Arcade. He's so badass he was never even given a real name; just a bowtie and platform shoes. Pretty much the best villain in the history of villains. He should be used more.

The Big Crunch

Remember the X-Men game for Sega Genesis? Also known as the best game ever? Well, the second to last level was called "Mojo's Crunch." This was based on three issues of Wolverine in the 90's written by Larry Hama. I just bought two of the issues this week to read the story (I never had before). Here's an awesome panel of Spiral.

Forgotten Comics: X-Men Unlimited #14

For a new series on this blog, I am going to be highlighting some of my favorite lesser known comic books, individual issue-style.

First up is X-Men Unlimited #14. For those unfamiliar with X-Men comics... they are basically my favorite. Many of the stores that are going to be dealt with this for this series are going to be X-Men, and they are going to be from the '90s when Marvel was over saturating the comic book market with 'em. In my opinion, it was also a creative high point in X-Men history. Many great stories took place. In 1997, this rare gem was published.

Without going too much into the convoluted history, the X-Men had just been more or less betrayed by their founder, Professor X. Tainted by Magneto's evil influence, Xavier had become an amalgam of himself and Magnus to form a villainous entity known as Onslaught. It also created what big comic companies love: a gigantic crossover, where you have to buy a lot of titles to understand what the heck is going on. Basically, Onslaught was such a threat pretty much the entire planet was in trouble. Hence, not only the X-Men banded together to stop him, but the Avengers and the Fantastic Four as well. Since this is an X-Men story, I'll skip to the end and tell you that our merry mutant band survived. Avengers? Fantastic Four? Not so lucky. Onslaught apparently kills them.

I'm About to Cross the Line

I realize I'm playing on the book title's pun, but bear with me readers... this one is a bit more serious.

I'm reading a book for SLJ that would come under the topic of LGBT bullying.

I'm about halfway done. I just got the book early this week, so ... obviously it's pretty readable. I can't decide if it's making me mad in it's portrayal of a quasi-gay high school student or proud. Maybe a little bit of both even. The character, Alan, has basically been bullied the whole book. In the chapter I just read, he showed up to school wearing lipstick.

Although not the same thing, a student in my high school came to school one time dressed in what I can only describe as a "rainbow jumpsuit." While in the library, he would approach people he did not know and ask them if they had a problem with him. The story was something I got secondhand, but I did actually know the student. There was a kind of gay/straight alliance at the school that we were both a part of. When I heard the story, I knew at least the majority of it was probably true.