AfterElton Briefs: NPH is a singing band camp geek, gay books allegedly face extinction, and more!

My partner is a librarian so I have some insight here. He supplies me with teh summer reading of gay books on demand... ;-)

Last summer I read a few young adult novels (my partner's speciality) that were worth reading. Sure, they are meant for young folks but it gives insight as to what the kids could read and they are not simple simple in nature.

1. Last Exit To Normal (Michael Harmon) - A troubled teen is taken by his gay dad and his partner to live with his grandmother in rural Montana. The book focues on a straight teen but has the supporting characters of a gay dad and his partner who serve as good role models to their son.

2. So Hard To Say (Alex Sanchez) - A coming out story, yes, but one worth a thought. It takes a Hispanic girl and a white transplanted midwestern boy and gives us their first person perspective of her crush and later reaction to him as a gay pre-teen and his reaction to her crush and his coming out to himself. Well done although a little heavy on the girl's perspective.

I am also a huge fan of gay mysteries. These books are a great way of having a gay character and making his gay description only part of the characterization.  I am a huge fan of the David Brandstetter mysteries by Joseph Hansen (the first 3 or 4 books are worth your time). Brandstetter is an insurance investigator who happens to be a war veteran and a gay widower in the mid-1960s. Some of the mystery is a little silly at times but the strong characterization is there and really a great read. He has a masculine edge but a flirtatious eye.  The plots are usually closet case in nature but I thoroughly enjoyed them.

I have read some of the Russell Quant mysteries by Anthony Bidulka and although we have a character in Quant who is not just about being the gay detective, the books become weighted with too much setting description. I have also read 2 of the Tom & Scott mysteries by Mark Richard Zubro and felt that I was being told a story and not brought along into the story.

I am throughly enjoying the whimsey of the Nancy Clue and The Hardly Boys parody mysteries and their use of clever phrases and alliteration althought sometimes it gets tiresome at times.

I would love to find a gay novel though that talks about a gay man or gay family that focuses more on plot and less on the gay although a gay screwball comedy is always fun!